Monsters That I've Been
by badwolf0924
Summary: Buffy died and fell through a portal, but instead of just falling into another dimension, they merged around her. And then she went to a heaven that wouldn't have existed before. She was pulled back and into a world filled with more monsters than were there before she died. As always a big bad comes up with a plan, and two brothers and an angel offer to help. (Spuffy, Destiel, etc)
1. Chapter 1

**Been rewatching Buffy... Just cause... And then I got this idea... Heh**

**Let me know whatcha think!**

In what felt like barely a second, her world went from color to blinding white. She was standing with her sister and then she was falling through the air, heading for the portal into another dimension, to god knows where. She only hoped there wouldn't be any pain, and to her surprise, there wasn't. It was like a tingling sensation through her entire body, it felt as though all her limbs had fallen asleep at once. She squeezed her eyes shut and upon opening them again, she saw nothing.

The world was washed out around her and she felt light. She suddenly realized she was lying on something soft and turned over to discover she was in a bed. There was a blanket over her face and it fell as she sat up and looked around. The bed in question was in the middle of a field.

"What the?" She asked aloud, throwing the blanket off of her and struggling to get off the bed. It was rather soft and sunken in and it was difficult to stand. Her feet found the soft grass and it gave way beneath her toes, which confused her more, as she remembered having shoes on before she jumped to her death. She was also wearing a dress, a white dress, a dress resembling her spring formal dress from her sophomore year. The one she'd died in.

"Where am I?" She asked, looking around, all around her she saw trees, the sun was shining bright but she didn't need to shield her eyes from it, in fact it was pleasant. The soft wind didn't chill her nearly as much as she thought it was going to when she first felt it.

"You're in heaven." A voice said suddenly and she whipped around to find its source. She saw no one and turned in a few more circles.

"Hello?" She asked, looking in every direction she could think of.

"I said you're in heaven. It's nice to have you, Buffy." She turned suddenly, immediately knowing where she'd find the owner of the voice. He'd appeared next to her, sitting on the edge of the bed was a man dressed in a trench coat, his tie was loose and his hair was a tad askew.

"I'm where?" She asked, looking around, her mouth turned down a bit, "Boy is heaven strange."

"This is just the beginning. I'm here to help guide you into your own personal heaven." He stood and touched two fingers to her forehead, in no time she was standing on a road, it was one she recognized, the sign in front of her said: 'You're now leaving Sunnydale.'

"Huh?" She asked, turning back to look at the trench coat guy, "My heaven is leaving Sunnydale? Or going in?"

"That's up to you to decide. It's not necessarily your heaven, but it is the road that will lead you there."

"I repeat, Heaven is weird." She sighed, turning back to the sign.

"I agree." The gruff voiced man replied, he began walking, Buffy followed.

"Hey, what's your name mister disheveled man?" She asked, catching up to him.

"I am Castiel. I'm an angel of the lord." He revealed and her eyebrows shot up, impressed.

"Wow, I didn't think this stuff existed."

"It's not supposed to in your dimension, but Glory merged the two of ours together when she opened that portal. It's an irreversible side effect." Castiel sighed, "You are the slayer, correct?" He asked, his brow furrowed.

"Yeah." Buffy replied, "Was, I guess."

"I'm still trying to get the hang of your dimension. It's a bit different in my own."

"How?" Buffy asked, her interest peaked.

"Well, for one, you're about five years behind us, time wise." Castiel said, "It made the merger very difficult. But I believe time evened out."

"Wow." She laughed, "I wonder if they realized it."

"No." Castiel replied, "It just seemed like a normal day, sort of like day light savings, or having jet lag. Everyone was tired and didn't understand why."

"Huh. So do they have a slayer in your dimension?" She asked, "Did they even have vampires?"

"Oh yes. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts... The supernatural existed already, but it was a bit different. Vampires for instance were extremely different from yours."

"So what happened?" She asked, suddenly very worried that Castiel's vampires may be worse than the ones her friends were used to.

"They both exist. Hopefully they'll never discover one another." Castiel sighed, "Though it's highly unlikely, but I will tell my contacts on earth about the merge. They'll know how to fight all the beasts from your world."

"Your contacts?" Buffy asked, she looked ahead and saw nothing but the road, it wound to the left, they kept walking.

"I often venture to earth to aid two hunters." Castiel sighed, sounding exasperated at the thought.

"Hunters?" She asked, "Do they pray for every animal they take or something?"

"No, they hunt the supernatural. There are no slayers in our world, no one was destined to fight the forces of evil, so people began taking it upon themselves to do so." Buffy was impressed at the angels explanation, suddenly the ground beneath their feet began to rumble and Castiel stopped, he looked up and sighed, "Not now." He growled, Buffy stared at him funny.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I'll be right back, keep going, you'll find what you're looking for around the bend."

"Ooh like Pocahontas." She smiled but when she looked back he'd disappeared, "Not one for goodbyes I see." She sighed and continued walking. Just as Castiel said, when she rounded the corner she saw a house. It was like her house back in Sunnydale, though it was all by itself, surrounded by a forest of trees. While it should have been in shadow, it was instead bathed in light, as if it was luring her in. The thought occurred to her suddenly that she would get to see her mom. This thought sent her running to the front door and for some reason, she knocked. The door opened and her mom stood there, staring, wide-eyed.

"Buffy?" She asked and Buffy smiled widely, stepping through and pulling her mother into a tight embrace, "Where have you been?" Her mom asked and she furrowed her brow, pulling back. She recognized the outfit Joyce was wearing and looked around, realizing that the house wasn't her heaven, it was a memory.

"Mom?" She asked and Joyce sighed, her head tilted.

"You scared me half to death, Buffy. I didn't know whether you were alive or dead, you could have picked up a phone!" Confused as she was, she didn't care, she was talking to her mother.

"I don't know what this is, mom. But I'm happy to see you." She said, running a hand through Joyce's hair.

"This is one of your favorite memories." Castiel appeared suddenly on the staircase, Buffy nearly jumped, Joyce seemed to continue on about their conversation, but her words were silenced, as if she'd hit the mute button.

"Me coming home from LA?" Buffy was confused, though she could understand why that reunion with her mom was one of her favorite memories. It was the first time her mom looked at her, knowing her true identity, and embraced her.

"The road to heaven is paved with memories." Castiel said, "This isn't the only familiar face you'll see. And if you're lucky, you will find your mom once you've made it to the light."

"So you're saying she could be there waiting for me, and she might not be?" Buffy asked, frowning, "I think I'll just stay here, then." She held onto her mom's hand and brought it to her lips.

"We need to move on, Buffy." Castiel sighed, walking through the house. Buffy reluctantly followed until they reached the back door. As soon as they opened it and walked through, Buffy realized that she was in the library of Sunnydale High, pre-ascension day. Giles suddenly walked from his office, cleaning off his glasses as usual. He was so young, Buffy grinned widely.

"Buffy." Giles said, smiling as he put his specs back on. She was so busy staring at Giles she didn't notice Willow and Xander sitting at the table bickering about the math homework that Xander didn't want to do and was trying to force Willow to do for him.

"Buff, will you tell Willow that if I fail miserably it'll be entirely her fault for not helping me?" He whined, Willow scoffed.

"And will you tell Xander that he won't be able to pass any of his tests if he doesn't at least attempt to do the homework?" They went back to bickering and Buffy smiled, Giles walked to the table in an attempt to reason with the both of them.

"Might I ask why this is a favorite?" Castiel appeared again, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"It's just a normal day." Buffy shrugged, "No big bad's or impending doom. Just a regular old day where we got to be regular old teenagers." She sighed, "We didn't get that a lot."

"I understand. I imagine the Winchester's would have similar favorite memories." Castiel said and Buffy scowled at him.

"The who now?" They walked up the stairs and through the aisles of books that Buffy couldn't remember, they walked through an archway.

"My hunter friends on earth," The angel said, "They grew up hunting monsters and as such never really got to have normal lives, so it's the boring moments that they cherish above all else. I find it to be a common trait amongst human kind."

"Ah." Buffy nodded, as soon as they turned the corner into what would have been the stacks, Buffy found that they'd entered Spike's crypt, "Oh no." She said, shaking her head, "No no no. This is a mistake. None of my favorite memories take place here."

"Heaven doesn't lie, Buffy." Castiel said, she looked to him with a disbelieving glare when someone spoke, though the voice wasn't Spike's, it was Dawn's.

"Buffy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sneak out, I just, well I wanted to- don't be mad! You're mad, please don't be." Dawn rambled, running up to her sister, her hands twisting. Buffy smiled and hugged Dawn.

"Don't worry, love, I was lookin after the little bit." Said the voice Buffy was dreading, but then she realized why it was a favorite memory.

"At least I know Dawn will be protected." Buffy smiled at Spike who pursed his lips and checked her out, she scoffed and turned, heading out the door and back onto the road. Castiel followed her.

"It's right through that gate." Castiel said, pointing to the familiar sight. Her gateway into heaven looked a lot like the Sunnydale Cemetery.

"Ew." She sighed, but walked through it anyway. Feeling a bit downtrodden because there was once person she didn't get to see, her eyes caught sight of the light that she supposed she should walk towards.

"Buffy?" She heard a voice and turned, Angel was standing in the middle of the graves, smiling slightly.

"Angel." She said, and walked to him, a hand flying up to cup his cheek. He pressed his hand against hers and closed his eyes briefly.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." He said, "I wish I could have seen you one last time." Buffy furrowed her brow, not remembering this conversation.

"What do you mean? You were always there for me. You came when mom died." Buffy smiled up at him, tears in her eyes.

"But I should have been there when you-" He couldn't complete his statement, tears falling from his own. Buffy turned to Castiel.

"How is he here?" She asked, suddenly worried.

"I put him into a dream state, this is a dream for him where it's real for you." Castiel explained, Buffy nodded, turning back to Angel and half smiling. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly, her forehead resting against his.

"I'll always love you." She whispered, he nodded against her.

"You know I love you." He replied and Buffy stepped back, slowly removing her hand from his face she turned and headed for the light. With one last look back at Angel and then to Castiel, who nodded, she stepped through it.

Of course Buffy's heaven involved a lot of lying in the sun on a beach drinking some form of daiquiri while being pampered by attractive cabana boys. But it also included her mom, who had mixed emotions when Buffy'd arrived in the celestial kingdom.

But they spent day after day together, doing the same thing, and they never tired of it. Castiel popped in occasionally to update her on the real world. Time moved quicker in Heaven than on earth. She had been there for years, basking in the sun with her mother, but only a couple of months had passed for her friends and family.

"They still have the Buffy robot." Castiel said uncomfortably, Buffy groaned.

"Ugh, Spike's not using it, is he?" Buffy dreaded the answer.

"Spike?" Joyce asked, "He made a Buffy robot?"

"_He _didn't. But he used it." Buffy shuddered, "Anyway, why?"

"They don't want the monsters to think Sunnydale is unprotected." Castiel sighed, "Though I've sent the Winchesters there to check things out. They said they killed a few vampires but were interrupted by the robot and as Dean put it, _'A Billy Idol wannabe and a teenager'_." Castiel smiled at the mention of Dean's name, even though he'd been the one to mention it.

"Spike and Dawn?" Buffy shouted, nearly spilling her drink. Joyce's jaw dropped slightly at the news and she shook her head, muttering something beneath her breath as she sipped her mimosa.

"They'll be going back in a couple days to be sure everything is still running smoothly. But I think your friends have everything under control." Castiel shook his head as the cabana boy asked him if he wanted a drink and Buffy squinted in the sun, even though she didn't need to and was wearing sunglasses, it felt natural.

"What about Giles?" She asked, worrying about her former watcher.

"He went back to England today." Castiel said and Buffy nodded, suddenly feeling sad.

"Oh." She said, "I guess I couldn't expect him to stick around forever after I died." Castiel was about to reply when the world around them began rumbling, Buffy figured it was Cass being summoned by the Winchesters again, but his face told a different story.

"Cass?" She asked, "What's up?"

"Something's wrong." He said, standing and looking around. Buffy stood too, only to find that she felt dizzy, which was off-putting. In the years she'd been there, she'd never once felt that way.

"Woah." She said, reaching out for her mom, who took her hand.

"Buffy?" Joyce asked, worried.

"What's happening?" She asked, sitting back down to find her lawn chair had suddenly turned to wood, "Mom?" She asked, looking next to her, but her mom had disappeared. In fact, everyone save for Castiel had disappeared, and the sun was beginning to dim.

"They're..." Castiel said, looking around, a sudden deep voice rang out above them, but Buffy couldn't understand, her ears were beginning to ring.

"Cass!" She shouted, looking down at her hands, her nails were longer and she was wearing a black dress. Her hair grew about ten inches in a split second.

"You're being pulled back." The angel revealed, his eyes wide with worry.

"What!?" She shouted, but she received no reply. For the first time in what felt like forever, her world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm liking this story idea... Heh... **

She awoke in a casket. She couldn't breathe at first, and it took her a while to register where she was. After figuring it out, she knew she would have to dig her way out of the box, or she'd die a slow and painful death. So she scratched away at the lining which soon gave way to wood which soon gave way after some pain and blood (which was _quite_ disorienting and new) to dirt. The dirt poured into the casket, onto her face and into her mouth. It clouded her vision but she kept digging her way out. Had she been able to think about anything other than staying alive, she might have laughed at the parallel to a vampire; she was the slayer, digging her way out of the ground.

She pulled herself out of the grave and into the fresh air, which she took into her lungs. It was painful, but satisfying. She felt the grass beneath her hands and squeezed, she longed to be back in the field where the grass was soft and wind even softer. But it was dark here, and there was fire and screaming. _They've sent me to hell_.

She wondered if she'd just imagined heaven, imagined the walk, her mom, her friends, the beach. Castiel. She wondered if it was a lie. Had the two universes really merged when Glory opened the portal, she was bound to find out sooner or later. Castiel had never revealed to her the difference between their respective vampire races. She wondered if they turned to dust.

It didn't take long to find her way back home, the walk was the complete opposite of her walk to her house through heaven. Everyone was angry, there was fighting, and her feet hurt. The sensation of pain was one she'd forgotten over many years of warm sunlight and mojitos with her mother. The pain, everything, it was disorienting. She found her way to the place she died, wondering if perhaps she could go back to where she was, back to the happiness, the warmth. But Dawn found her first, and she remembered Dawn, she couldn't let her down.

She also remembered Spike and as he sat across from her, cleaning her hands and talking about how long she was gone, she couldn't help but smile, remembering Castiel's friends description of him.

"How long was it where you were?" He asked and she blanched.

"Longer." She replied, it was the truth. Spike looked at her as though he'd been made whole again, but he was also scared. She wondered if she could call to Castiel as the Winchesters did. She wondered if he would come. When she was finally alone she tried. Sitting in the middle of her bed, her legs pulled up against her.

"Cass?" She whispered, looking up at her ceiling as if he'd fall through it any minute. But he didn't come, her ceiling stayed in tact and she fell asleep literally praying that Castiel would save her.

In the end they wound up fighting off a demon that had been created through the spell Willow performed to bring Buffy back. Buffy wasn't mad that Willow had brought her back, just sad and confused. Life was strange, she would need time, but they didn't seem to understand that, they wanted her to thank them. They thought she was in hell, and she let them believe it.

So she told Spike that she wasn't. Because he could keep her secret, he had to, he loved her. She had just finished telling Spike about heaven when Castiel appeared.

"Bloody hell." Spike jumped back, further into the shade, "Where'd you come from?" He asked, Castiel turned and looked at him, squinting.

"Buffy are you aware of the vampire behind you?" Castiel asked and Buffy turned, a smile appearing on her face as she saw him, her first genuine smile since returning. She pulled him into a tight hug and Cass shifted awkwardly beneath her grasp, but hugged her back eventually

"You found me." She said.

"You prayed." Cass replied, shrugging, as though it should have been obvious he'd come.

"You prayed?" Spike scoffed, they shot him a dirty look.

"He's an angel." Buffy explained, Spike nodded.

"Right, and I'm the bloody Queen of England." He said, Castiel tiled his head.

"You're not a woman." He said and Buffy shook her own head.

"It's a figure of speech." She said, "So listen, is there any way you can get me back?" She asked, Castiel looked at her sadly.

"I'm sorry, there's no way." He was genuinely sorry and she half smiled, shrugging.

"Figured it was a long shot... Just thought I'd ask." She sighed, suddenly finding her feet very interesting.

"Well I just came to tell you that the Winchesters will be here any moment. If you need advice about how to assimilate back into society, they're the ones to ask. They've died plenty of times." Castiel said, "Dean has been to Hell, Heaven and Purgatory."

"Wow, they've had the grand tour." Buffy said, slightly impressed, "I'm assuming the Hell from your dimension is like the actual burny, torturey kind, and not the 'we're gonna make you do hard labor' kind? How'd he get out?"

"I pulled him out." Cass said, slightly proud.

"Coolness." She replied, turning to Spike, "I guess let's go back inside, do you wanna come?" She turned back to Cass, but he was gone.

"Bye." She sighed, and began walking back into the Magic Box.

"So you have an angel buddy now?" Spike asked, "An actual angel, not just a prat named Angel?"

"Shut up." Buffy scoffed, they both walked into the room where her friends looked ready to ask her more questions when she was saved by the bell at the entrance to the shop ringing. In walked two men, one was about ten feet tall and the other was the brooding type of handsome.

"I take it that's the Winchesters?" Spike asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I hope so." Buffy sighed.

"How can I help you?" Anya shouted before anyone else could greet them, "Are you in need of magical supplies? Let me know what you need, I am the owner of this establishment and as such am great at taking people's money!" She grinned widely up at them, they looked at each other and smiled.

"Uh, we're looking for Buffy?" The shorter, brooding one said.

"I'm me... I mean she's me... I mean, Hi, I'm Buffy." She stammered, walking up to him and holding out her hand.

"Dean Winchester." He said, shaking the offered hand, "This is my brother Sam." Sam waved awkwardly, "Cass tells us you need our help uh- figuring stuff out."

"Cass?" Willow asked, walking up to them, "Who's Cass?" She looked from the Winchesters to Buffy.

"Cass is an-" Sam began, but Buffy cut him off.

"A-an expert! On dimension stuff." She said, raising her brows at the Winchesters who caught on immediately.

"Yeah, he's real big on that... Stuff." Sam cleared his throat, holding his hand out to Willow, "Your name?"

"Oh, I'm... Willow." She said, shaking his hand timidly, "I'm Buffy's friend person."

"How did you happen to meet this Cass guy, Buff?" Xander asked, walking up to them, still as distrusting of strange men as ever. He eyed Dean suspiciously who narrowed his own eyes at the distrusting friend.

"Online." Buffy said quickly, "Last night, I was googling." She said, smiling awkwardly, "I'm gonna go now. I have things to discuss with the Winchesters."

"I don't know, Buff. Maybe one of us should go with you. Weird guys and all." Xander said.

"I'm a big girl, Xander, I can take care of myself." Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Oh I know that better than anyone here, probably... But you did just get back..." He looked to Willow for help.

"Yeah, Buffy... I don't know if-" Willow began, her eyes all full of concern.

"I'll stay here." Sam interjected, "That way if Dean tries any funny business, I'll be here for you to... Question." He cleared his throat and walked to the table, setting the bag that hung on his shoulder down onto the table, "We have a case here anyway."

"A case?" Anya asked hopefully, "Does this case contain copious amounts of money?"

"Uh, no..." Sam looked back to Dean who shrugged and then followed Buffy, who was hurrying out the door. Xander sat down next to Sam and kept his eyes narrowed at the taller man.

Buffy walked along the nearly empty street and Dean caught up to her.

"What was that about?" He asked, "I mean I know we have a person in common, but maybe you should have informed him that you were gonna lie to all your friends."

"I just don't want them to know I was in heaven." Buffy said, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Why?" Dean asked, still confused.

"They thought I was in a Hell dimension." She said, Dean raised his brows, still confused.

"So why don't you want them to know that you weren't suffering?"

"Because they pulled me out, they thought they were saving me. It'd be too much to tell them they yanked away my happiness." She found a bench and sat on it, Dean followed.

"I get that." He said, "So what are you having problems with?"

"Everything." She sighed, turning to him, "It all hurts... Just breathing. I don't know how I did it for so long. I've had a destiny ever since I was 15, and when I died, it was finally lifted from my shoulders... Now that I'm back, I feel the pressure again. And it sucks."

"I understand that. But at least you got years of happiness. Try being in Hell for 40 years and inadvertently starting the apocalypse because you didn't want to get tortured anymore." Dean sighed and Buffy stared at him, her eyes full of sorrow.

"Wow." She said, "Our lives have sucked."

"Yeah." He laughed spitefully.

"But at least Cass pulled you out." She said, Dean smiled involuntarily.

"Yeah." He said again, though his tone was lighter this time, "Well we'll be here for a couple days, got a poltergeist a few streets away... Shouldn't take too long to wrap up, but we will be here if you need us."

"Thanks." She smiled but didn't move, "Can we just sit here for a little?"

"Sure." Dean shrugged, liking the idea of just doing nothing for a bit.

Spike stared at the tall moose of a man who was conversing with the redhead about hacking algorithms, wishing he could be with Buffy out in the sun. If for no other reason than watching her with that Dean character. He seemed slutty. He didn't like it. The door chimed and Spike turned hopefully, but saw that it was just the little bit.

"Guys you'll never believe what-" She stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of Sam, "H-hello." She said, tugging at her backpack strap. Spike scoffed, now Dawn would have a crush on the moose and their lives would be really interesting.

"Hey." Sam smiled, standing up. He towered over Dawn, but that only served to make her more giddy. She eagerly accepted his outstretched hand, "Sam Winchester."

"Dawn Summers." She said, "A-are you here b-because of Buffy?"

"Yeah." He said, "Something like that."

"Sam and his brother are hunters." Willow explained, "They fight the bad guys like us."

"Oh!" Dawn exclaimed, "Where were you last year." She muttered.

"In a completely separate dimension." Sam said, they all looked at him strange.

"Huh?" Xander asked.

"Well it's sort of complicated, Castiel could explain it to you better than I could probably... But when that God, Glory, opened the portal, and Buffy jumped, thus closing it, our worlds merged together." He held his hands out and clapped them together as if that explained everything, "So we sort of all got smooshed into one world."

"Interesting." Willow said, "So you and your brother fought monsters in a different dimension?" She smiled, "Cool."

"Well it's not that cool." Sam sighed, running a hand through his long locks, "The supernatural creatures in our world were similar to yours, but different as well... Take vampires for example." Sam said, looking around the room, his eyes landing on Spike. Spike shifted for a moment, wondering if the tall man knew he was a vamp.

"What about em?" Spike asked, trying not to sound defensive.

"Well here they can't go in the sunlight and can be killed by a simple stake." Sam laughed, "It's almost too easy." He said.

"Well how were they in _your_ universe?" Spike asked, abandoning his attempt at trying not to sound offended.

"They could go out in the sun, but didn't like to. They had a ton of sharp fangs, and could only be killed by cutting their head off."

"Did your vampires merge with ours?" Xander asked, looking to Spike. Spike knew he was contemplating throwing him outside and seeing if he burst into flames.

"No, but we're slightly worried they might." Sam said, "I don't know what kind of super hybrid they'd create."

"What about demons? What kind do you guys have?" Anya asked, excited to talk about her time as a vengeance demon.

"We... Have... Demons." Sam said, shrugging, "They're just demons. I mean there's knights of hell and crossroads demons... But they're just demons. Black eyed son's of bitches that make our lives hell."

"No but, like, vengeance demons, what kinds of those do you have?" Anya pushed smiling, Xander patted her hand.

"Let it go, honey." He said.

"I guess any demon could be after vengeance. But usually it's the ghosts that want that sort of thing." Sam said, Anya tilted her head, seemingly disappointed.

"You guys had a heaven and a hell?" Xander asked, Sam nodded, "Great who knows what you brought with you."

"Didn't you hear him?" Dawn said, highly offended that Xander would blame the tall masterpiece in front of her, "It was Glory. Not them." The bell rang as the door opened and Spike perked up as he saw Buffy walk in, though he was immediately seething again to see that she was smiling with Dean.

"Oh, Dawnie." She said, Dawn approached them, fawning again over the other Winchester brother, "This is Dean, Dean this is my sister Dawn."

"Hi." She whimpered and barely managed a wave.

"Dawn." Dean smirked, walking past her to Sam.

"Ready to get to our hotel, Sammy?" Sam stood and began gathering his things when they heard a familiar voice.

"You two are harder to find than a bloody needle in a bloody haystack." Everyone in the room turned to the man who was brushing off his suit while still complaining, "And I find you in this one horse town that appeared out of literally nowhere one day." He looked up from his suit to find all the eyes on him.

"Crowley." Dean growled, "What do you want?"

"And how'd you just appear?" Buffy asked, ready to fight.

"Oh, hello." Crowley said, his brows raised. He stuck his hands into his pockets and strutted up to the slayer, "Just my height." He winked at her and continued to Sam and Dean.

"Ugh." She scoffed, frowning as she turned and watched him continue to walk to the Winchesters.

"What?" Dean complained.

"Just dropped in to say hi." He held up his hands in surrender, "Honest."

"We're really not in the mood for this right now, dude." Dean rolled his eyes.

"I came to see your new friends. You know every since this dimensions business, it's been bloody interesting out there." He wondered around the shop picking things up and setting them back down. Anya followed him, worried he was going to drop something.

"Ex-demon, you are." Crowley said once he caught sight of her, he sniffed the air, "They have so many interesting breeds here." He said to the room, smiling, "I'd like to rule them all of course, but one can't be too hasty when building a kingdom."

"What are you some sort of dungeon master?" Buffy asked, unimpressed.

"King of Hell." Crowley said, Willow stood from the table, suddenly very angry.

"The Hell that Buffy was in?" She asked, rubbing her fingers together. Tara got up, she'd been very quiet the entire time, but she was beginning to rub a hand down Willow's back.

"Calm down, Will." She said softly, her shoulders hunched slightly. Crowley smirked.

"No." He smiled, walking to Spike. Spike stood up straight, his jaw clenched slightly. He could smell Crowley, the stench of rotten eggs made his stomach turn, "Tell me, does the slayer always make a habit of hanging out with vampires?" He asked, turning back to Buffy.

"Spike is domesticated." She said, Spike scoffed.

"Thanks a lot." He said, she shrugged.

"Why are you here?" Dean asked, annoyed that Crowley was walking around acting like he owned the place. These people had no business with him.

"Came to see how you're fairing, now that the mark is gone." Crowley feigned concern.

"I'm fine." Dean said, holding out his arm. There was a faint outline where the mark of Cain had once been, it was nothing more than a faded scar now.

"You're welcome." Crowley said, "I never did get a proper thank you."

"I'll send a card." Dean replied, Crowley once again held up his hands in surrender.

"Fine, if you're gonna be a baby about it." He headed up the stairs of the Magic Box, "Just thought you should be concerned about demons discovering that the vampires of this dimension can be possessed."

"What?" Buffy and Dean asked at the same time, but Crowley was already gone.

"God, do they all do that!" Buffy asked, turning to Dean and Sam.

"Just him and Cass." Dean replied.

"I'm sorry, did ol' king of hell just say that I can be possessed!?" Spike piped up, "Is no one else going to worry about this?"

"We heard." Buffy said.

"Is wittle ol' Spike afwaid of a big bad demon?" Xander teased, Spike gave him the finger.

"That can be easily fixed, which... You should probably all get one anyway." Dean said.

"Get one what?" Dawn asked. Her question was answered by a simple tugging at the neck of his shirt. She nearly fainted at the sight of his bare chest with the anti-possession sigil inked into it.

"This keeps the demons out of ya." Dean explained.

"I'm sorry, demons possess people?" Xander asked.

"Yes." Sam answered shortly.

"But, how- and why?" Xander asked, shivering slightly, "Gives me the heebie jeebies."

"Heebie jeebies?" Dean asked, slightly amused.

"Well basically, all demons want is to get out of hell because the place blows."

"Big time." Dean added, a few people looked at him strange, mainly Willow.

"And when they leave it, they have no form, they're just smoke clouds basically... And so they ram themselves down helpless victims throats and bam, they're whole." Sam sighed, running his hand through his hair, from somewhere behind him, Dawn nearly fainted.

"So now they can possess Vamps?" Buffy asked, "How?"

"Well, vampires here a-are just half humans, half demons, aren't they?" Tara asked, Willow turned and half smiled, nodding, giving her encouragement.

"So demons don't need to possess someone with a soul?" Asked the slayer, Dean looked to Sam who shrugged.

"I guess not." Sam said.

"Bloody great." Spike groaned, "Where can I get this tattoo?" Sam turned and opened is bag, digging through it for a moment until he found what he was looking for. He threw something small at Spike, who held it up, "What do I want with a keychain?"

"It's the anti-possession sigil, and it'll keep you safe till you can get it tattooed." He reached back into his back and pulled out another one, throwing it to Buffy, "You'll probably want one too. Nothing worse than a demon slayer running around."

"How'd you know I was-"

"Cass told us." Dean interrupted, "Said you had some super strength and a destiny and all that crap."

"Wow, you really told this guy a lot." Willow said, and Buffy turned to her, a slight smile on her face to hopefully calm Willow's nerves.

"It was an in depth interview thingy. He had to make sure there was a real reason to send these guys out here." She said and swung her arms a bit, turning back to the brothers, "So, did you wanna come patrolling with me tonight? Or are you pretty booked what with your poltergeist stuff?"

"Uh, poltergeist stuff won't be too time consuming. We just have to go through some records, figure out what exactly happened in the house-" Sam started.

"Yeah, Sammy's good with that computer junk. I'm better with the fighting." Dean punched Sam's arm playfully.

"I think we're both just fine in that department." Sam said, slapping away his brother's hand.

"But, uh, yeah, we'll come out with you." Dean shrugged, "What's the worst that could happen."

They continued to talk for the next hour or so until the sun started to set. At that point they all left the magic shop, filing out one after the other. Spike didn't notice he'd left his anti-possession keychain behind.


	3. Chapter 3

**That last one was a bit long... This is shorter... Heh**

"Twice. I mean I've been near death a few more times than that. But the actual act of dying, only twice." Buffy told Dean later that night as they strolled leisurely through the cemetery, "Why, how many times have you died?" She heard Sam snort behind her.

"Uh, it's kind of a long story." Dean smiled and turned back to his brother, "But that I can remember? About three times." Buffy's brows shot up into her hairline and she glanced back at Sam.

"How about you?" She asked and he tilted his head, seemingly counting.

"Uh, twice, because I don't count getting locked in the cage with Lucifer as dying." Sam said, though he seemed to still be mulling it over. Buffy stopped and looked around, shrugging she sat down with her back against a headstone.

"We're sitting?" Dean asked, looking around as though expecting a fight.

"Right here's as good a place as any, dontcha think? Plus, there's a fresh grave over there, so who knows what might come popping out!" Buffy seemed to cozy herself against the slab of marble and Dean shrugged, sitting across from her. Sam stayed standing, his arms crossed over his chest, "So how exactly did you die? Gimme the gruesome details!"

"Well... The first time was when I went to Hell... So hell hounds." Dean said, and Buffy made a gagging noise.

"Ugh, I fought some of those bad boys off at my senior prom. They are _not_ pretty." She scratched at her head and looked around, but when she looked at the brothers again, they were staring at her, confused.

"You have your own version of hell hounds?" Dean asked, and Buffy tilted her head.

"How would you know?" She asked, "What do yours look like?"

"Ugly." Dean said, "But you only see them if your deal is up and they've been summoned to drag you to Hell."

"You made a deal?" Buffy asked, "With that Crowley guy?"

"No." Dean laughed, "Not with him. I'd never kiss that ugly mug."

"Huh?" Buffy looked more confused than ever and Sam laughed a bit, crouching down.

"I think maybe we should start with _my_ first death, that way she'll understand yours." Sam looked to Dean who shrugged and nodded, "Well you see when I was a baby..."

Spike watched from behind a crypt as Buffy chatted with the Winchester's. Every time she laughed at something either one of them said his stomach burned and he wished that he didn't have a chip in his head or he'd have ripped their spinal columns out already. He'd gone through a pack of cigarettes already and was patting down his pockets for another when something crunched behind him.

He turned expecting a fight when he saw that it was just Dawn.

"What are you doing?" Spike asked, holding up the stake he'd pulled out of his jacket in haste, it was facing the wrong direction, "I could have killed you." She merely raised her brows at the sharp piece of wood and he looked at it, scoffing, he put it away, "You shouldn't be out by yourself at this hour." He turned back to face the three people who were still oblivious to their presence.

"Oh, please. No more Glory means I'm no longer in danger." She said, a slightly bored drawl to her voice, "Besides, Buffy's right over there with those hunky hunter brothers. They could protect me." Spike turned back and rolled his eyes at the littlest Summers.

"I can protect you!" He said, Dawn rolled her eyes right back and leaned back against the side of the crypt, "I'm just as bloody good a fighter as any of them, probably better than them pretty boys from Kansas."

"How do you know they're from Kansas?" Dawn asked, eyeing Spike suspiciously.

"It's on their license plate." He replied, as though it should have been obvious; he turned his back on Dawn to stare at Buffy again.

"Oh." She said, shrugging, "Can we go back to your place, it's kinda cold out here."

"Do whatever you want." Spike answered, though it was obvious he wouldn't be moving from his spot until the other three did.

"Are you just gonna follow them all night?"

"That was my plan, yeah." He pounded his next pack of cancer sticks (or what would be cancer sticks, had he been alive) against his hand and unwrapped the plastic. Pulling one out and sticking it between his teeth he lit it. Blowing the smoke up into the air. Dawn coughed, and he looked at her, brow raised, unamused.

"Fine, if you don't want me around, I'll go." She then stormed off into the night, Spike growled and called after her.

"Dawn! Get back here, little bit." He turned and hurried after her, Buffy turned from the Winchesters and looked to the direction she'd heard the distant voices.

"So then, I wake up _again_ and that same damn Asia song- uh, Buffy?" Sam asked, realizing she'd stopped listening and looking back to where Buffy was, "You ok?"

"Yeah." She said, shaking it off, "Just thought I'd heard something." She turned back to the brothers in time to see a hand fly up out of the ground through the freshly laid dirt, "We got hand action."

"What?" Dean asked, looking down hopefully.

"Behind you, fresh grave?" Buffy reminded him, though she was amused. She hopped up and pulled a stake from seemingly nowhere. Dean and Sam however removed their machete's from their holders, "Ooh, fancy." She said before she ran over to the almost fully emerged vampire.

Before she could get her stake into him, he caught her arms and threw her back. Instead of falling she merely turned the motion into a back flip, using the momentum to kick the fresh vamp in the face, which also succeeded in helping him get his feet out of the dirt. He came at her but she was ready, she flipped him over directly onto a headstone, he growled from the pain and punched her in the stomach. She kneed him in the face.

"This girl's good." Dean muttered to Sam; they were watching the fight in shock, halfway sprung into action, they'd stopped when they saw her flip and had been locked in place since.

"Should we... Help her?" Sam asked as they watched Buffy do a series of flips that ended in her with her legs around the vampire's neck. The fight ended with her slamming him onto the ground and finally landing a fatal blow to his chest. As he disappeared into dust beneath her, Dean felt the only logical thing he could do at that point, was clap. Sam joined in. Buffy turned, and shrugged, she bowed as she worked to catch her breath; it didn't take long, super slayer powers meant she was in awesome shape.

"Kung fu master, teach me your ways." Dean said, smiling as Buffy approached them.

"Eh, next one I'll let you guys take, that way I can see what kind of skills you've got." She smiled, putting her stake away. They moved on then, obviously that patch of ground was played out, and they probably wouldn't be getting anymore pointy tooth action in those parts.

"Where too now?" Sam asked, obviously still pumped as they hadn't had to do any fighting yet.

"Uh, well there's a few other cemetery's... Or there's the Bronze." Buffy suggest and Dean looked to his brother.

"Does this Bronze place have alcohol?" Dean asked, Buffy nodded, "Lead the way!" Before Sam could interject, Buffy was leading them into town and away from the graveyard.

"So how many times did you die in that town?" Buffy asked Dean. Sam did a double take as they were walking out of the cemetery, thinking he saw something. But the brunette with the black eyes managed to slip out of sight before he could get a better look.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the awesome feedback, it makes me feel like I'm actually a kind of good writer! Heh. **

There was a band playing at the Bronze that night; there was always a band playing at the Bronze. The three monster fighters walked in and saw it was crowded, everyone had out strange devices that confused Buffy.

"What are those?" She asked, pointing at the rectangle that someone was holding in their hand. It was lit up and they seemed to be tapping at it.

"Uh, his phone?" Dean asked, getting a look at where Buffy was pointing.

"His phone?" Buffy exclaimed, she began walking towards him, but Dean pulled her back, pulling out his own phone and handing it to her.

"When did phones become so weird looking?" She turned it over in her hand and her fingers ran over the letters on the back.

"What does HTC mean? Handle this carefully? Because it seems to be made of glass." She began tapping at the screen and Dean stared at her, his brows furrowed.

"Have you never seen a cell phone before, Buffy?" Sam chimed in and she looked up at him, confusion in her eyes.

"_This _is what cell phones became in the months I was dead?" Dean clicked the power button for her and it lit up, she half smiled, "Cool."

"They didn't have touch screen's before you died?" Dean asked, but Buffy was staring at the date, noting the very different numbers for the year.

"It's 2015?" She asked, looking back to them, her lip turned up into a slight grimace.

"Wasn't it when you died?" Dean asked, "You said you were only gone for a couple months here."

"No, I was... Willow said I was..." Her mouth twisted as she tried to think of an explanation and then it hit her, "Oh! Cass said it, I should have listened better."

"What did he say?" Dean asked, a slight hopeful tone to his voice.

"Calm yourself there, lover boy, nothing about you." Buffy smirked, looking back down at the phone once more before handing it back to Dean, who was glaring at Sam, who'd stifled a laugh and was trying to clear his throat to seem like he was just coughing, "He said that our worlds merged, right? Which clearly they did, so the time here must have been moving slower than the time in your universe... Because it was definitely 2001 when I died."

"So... The iPhone, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia..." Sam began listing things Buffy had never heard of.

"Kardashian's." Dean added, smirking with a raise of his eyebrows.

"What's that? Is it a demon?" Buffy asked, Sam laughed.

"More like a family of demons." He said, Dean shrugged and agreed with a nod of his head.

"Huh, do you think Willow and Dawn and the rest of the group noticed the time shift? Like, do they also not know what any of these things are- or, or do they know? And it's just like, it changed in their minds?" Buffy asked, rambling slightly, Sam shook his head and laughed.

"I need a drink." Dean growled, turning for the bar, Buffy shrugged and followed him, defeated and Sam followed as well, still laughing lightly.

Spike watched from the balcony as the slayer filed in with her two new best buds and scoffed. He took a swig from a flask he'd produced from his pocket and tried his best to ignore them, but he found that his eyes couldn't help but wander to her.

"You're quite the pathetic one, now aren't you?" A familiar voice said from behind him, he turned to see Drusilla skulking towards him, but something didn't register right. Her wistful tone was gone, and the smirk on her face was devilish, yet understanding.

"Dru?" He asked, his head tilting, she stopped, a frown forming on her face.

"That confirms it, the way you just said my name..." She shook her head and held up a finger, "Naughty Spike thinks I'm still me." There was a hint of the girl she used to be in there somewhere, but something was blocking it.

"Why are you here?" He asked, remembering their last encounter, when Buffy'd learned of his feelings.

"I came for you." She said, feigning hurt, "I've got a way to fix your head." She stepped towards him, a hand running through his hair, he stared up at her, transfixed and didn't miss it when her eyes flashed black. He nearly fell off his stool trying to get away from her, he had no where to run, she was blocking the stairs.

"You're one of them, they got to you." The panic in his voice was new and he didn't like it, but the presence of new and unknown evil forces confused him, he didn't know if staking her would do the trick anymore.

"They helped me." Dru said, her hands flying up to her head, "Got inside my crazy old brain, made me whole again. I haven't been this clear in decades, Spike. They can do the same for you." The predatory gleam in her eye was apparent, she wanted him back the way he was, right after she'd turned him. She was here trying to be his savior again; but he didn't want that anymore.

"No thanks, I like myself the way I am." He backed up against the wall as much as he could when she came near him again, her face inches from his, a slight smile on her face.

"You'll like yourself even more." She whispered, "Just wait for the black cloud to come down and you'll be put right again, just I have." Then she backed off and headed for the stairs, "I'll be waiting for you when you do." She headed down the stairs and into the bar, Spike watched her as she blatantly walked right by Buffy.

"So _the_ Dracula?" Sam was laughing into his beer and Dean was staring incredulously, Buffy opened her mouth to continue her story when she saw her. Drusilla walked right past her, a smirk on her face; they locked eyes, or they would have, but Dru's eyes were all black.

"What the hell?" Buffy snarled, standing up, Dean followed her eyes in time to see black blink back to normal and the girl who's eyes had changed so quickly duck out of the Bronze.

"Let's go, Sammy." Dean said, Sam checked his jacket for his angel blade and they got up to leave.

"Don't." Spike appeared behind them suddenly and they all jumped and turned, Dean stood tall, ready for anything.

"Don't go after the black eyed son of a bitch that just ran away?" Dean asked, "Why not?"

"Because it's his ex girlfriend." Buffy said, glaring at Spike, "So Drusilla went and got herself all... Demon...-y... Ish... Demonized?" She looked to Sam for help.

"Possessed works." He said, she nodded, looking back to Spike.

"So Drusilla went and got herself all possessed, gotta say, didn't see that coming. What was she doing here?" Spike smirked slightly at the hint of what he hoped was jealousy in Buffy's tone. He pursed his lips as he took in the slayer, Dean nudged Sam.

"You're looking kind of..." Sam began, Dean interrupted.

"Predatory, like you're really looking hard, man." He said and as he said it he took a step to the left, his arm now rested in Spike's path to Buffy. Spike saw this, and his face changed from predatory to, well, predatory, but a different kind of predatory. Like he wanted to rip out Dean's jugular.

"Guys, it's fine." She rolled her eyes and rested her hand on Dean's arm, nudging him out of the way, "Anything happens, I can take him." Spike scoffed and laughed slightly, obviously offended, he stared up at the ceiling and when he looked back at Buffy, she could tell his bad guy persona was now on.

"Fine, Slayer, don't listen to me. I only came over here to stop you followin' her cause not only is she now possessed, she also is completely sane." He didn't look anywhere but at Buffy, and he watched as she tried to comprehend his meaning, "Looks like when we get taken over by the black cloud's or whatever, they don't take over us, they help us."

"So what did she want?" Buffy asked, slightly afraid, insane Drusilla was no picnic, she didn't want to find out what not insane Drusilla was like.

"Wanted to tell me they'd be coming for me." Spike said and Buffy's heart immediately sank.

"What do you mean?" His smile returned because she couldn't cloak the concern in her tone, he _knew_ she cared.

"Don't know, only said to look out for the black cloud and that when it took me, my chip wouldn't work anymore. Guess she wanted to come collect me before so we could go on a spree together..." He looked to the Winchesters, "Like old times." He smirked at their horrified yet confused expressions and then looked back at Buffy, who was pouting angrily.

"Well you have that charm thingy, so they can't get you." Buffy said, shaking off her fears and crossing her arms over her chest, "Easy peasy."

"Right." Spike patted his chest pocket, "Got it right here, pet." He smiled and with a tilt of his head he turned, heading out of the Bronze.

"So- Spike?" Sam voiced the unspoken question and they turned to Buffy, "Do you guys have a thing?" She snorted and looked up at him.

"No." She shook her head, "He's got a thing for me, I have no thing for him."

"Oh, cause you know he's a vampire." Dean said, Buffy tilted her head at him.

"Yes, I do." She got slightly defensive, but they didn't understand why, she however shrugged it off and moved on, "If you're wondering why the slayer hangs out with a vampire who used to go on killing sprees with his insane ex girlfriend, it's because the government put a microchip in his head that stops him from hurting anyone. Since then he's helped us out a lot, took care of Dawn when I was-" She stopped and breathed deeply, "He tries." Dean nodded and looked at Sam, he wondered if Sam knew who came to his mind when he thought of a vampire that tried to do good. The look on Sam's face when he looked at Dean told him he'd also had Benny on the mind.

"Alright!" Dean said, trying to liven the mood, "Let's do shots."

They ended up stumbling back to Buffy's house a few hours later, Dean and Sam were joking with her about getting her a badge and allowing her to be an FBI agent whenever she needed to get into a place. She assured them that she would just blunder it up and wouldn't be able to pass for an agent.

"I'm like three feet tall!" She howled and Sam burst into a fit of laughter as they began climbing the steps to her house. They sat down for a few moments to calm themselves down, then Dean put a hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"Oh, come on, don't sell yourself short!" Dean said and they all began laughing all over again. The door opened behind them, Dean turned, Dawn was standing in the doorway, everyone else behind them.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, standing up, Buffy and Sam turned and then got off the steps.

"We've been worried sick." Dawn said, he arms crossed, her face impassive. Buffy's eyes widened and she tried hard to hold back a laugh.

"Okay, mom. Calm down." As soon as the words were out of Buffy's mouth, she wished she could take them back, Dawn's eyes widened and then began to fill up with tears, she turned and stomped off, everyone followed her into the living room, "Dawnie, I'm sorry! I didn't to bring her-"

"Shut up!" Dawn said, growling slightly, "Did you get to see her?"

"What?" Buffy asked, suddenly more confused.

"When you died, did you get to see her?" Dawn calmed down slightly, and shifted awkwardly where she stood, Buffy let her face drop to her hands which she was now wringing in front of her.

"I-it wasn't exactly a family reunion where I went, Dawn." Her voice was quiet, full of some unknown shame that they couldn't understand. She didn't like lying to them, but they couldn't know she was in heaven, they couldn't know that they'd ripped her from her happiness. From her mother.

"So it's not true?" Dawn asked, Buffy looked up, confused.

"Huh?" She asked.

"Buffy..." Willow said from behind her, she turned and saw that she'd obviously been crying, Tara had an arm wrapped around her shoulders and was stroking at her hair, "There's a guy here, he just sort of popped in... And... He..." She blinked back some more tears and Buffy looked around, still confused. It was Xander who stepped up to tell her.

"He said he's an angel of the Lord... That he met you when... Well when you were in heaven." Castiel walked in from the dining room and waved awkwardly to the rest of the group, Buffy looked from him to the Winchesters who were slinking back to join their friend. Then she looked around at all her friends who were looking to her for the answer, they were looking to her to tell them that it wasn't true, but she could only shake her head and open her mouth to speak.

"Oh..." She squeaked.

**So I'd been debating whether or not I wanted them to find out in the same way they found out in the show... But if I had the Winchesters there for once more with feeling, then I'd have to write them a song, or two... And I'm not good at songs... OR AM I... **

**I might have a Once More With Feeling chapter with an interesting Dean Winchester song... or a Destiel song... ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! So I've been working two jobs, so I'm trying to update as much as I can, but sometimes I work doubles and I'm tired after being at work for 14 hours, ya know? Anywho, I've had some ample time off the last two days, so here's another chapter! **

**It kinda goes back in time a bit, looking at things from the Scoobie's perspective. And Castiel's... And then there's some Destiel.. Cause they're my OTP, of course it's gonna happen. **

**Anywho, keep reviewing, I LOVE IT! Thank y'all so much bee-tee-dubs! Okay, enjoy!**

Buffy was out patrolling with the Winchesters and Willow, Dawn, Tara, Xander and Anya decided just to go back to the house and do some research about the baddies from the Winchester's dimension.

"It just kind of disturbs me that there's a whole bunch of other big bad's out there now that we've never faced before." Xander said, looking through a book that he knew would be no good until he realized it had been altered since he last read it, "Hold on... This book used to just have our kinds of monsters in it... Now it has new ones."

"How do you know?" Dawn asked, "I mean, you can't possibly have remembered all of the monsters in that book." She raised her brows skeptically.

"No." Xander said, looking defeated, but then Anya looked in on his book.

"He's right, Dawn." She took it out of his hands, "In all my years as a vengeance demon, I'd never once heard of a... Da-gin"

"A Da-what?" Willow scrunched up her face, and held out her hand, "Let me see that." She read through it, "It says that it's poison causes hallucinations-"

"It's actually pronounced Djinn. And they've been around in folklore for centuries, I'm surprised none of you have heard of them." A gruff voice said suddenly and they all turned to see a guy wearing a dark tan trench coat in a button up standing before them. Xander hopped up from his chair, nearly knocking it over.

"Wha- who are you!? Are you one of the shin's!?" He held out his hands as if he were ready for a fight, the man just stared at him unenthusiastically and sighed, walking around the table.

"No, I'm not a Djinn, you'd know if I was. They have tattoo's all over their bodies, their eyes glow... And you'd all be poisoned by now. Except maybe you." He looked at Willow for a brief moment before continuing, "I'm Castiel."

"Oh!" Xander said, straightening up, "Well that explains it, he's Castiel." He laughed and looked at the rest of the group who was still confused, "Buffy's dimension expert friend thing."

"Ooohhh!" The rest of the group breathed with an awkward laugh after.

"Wait, how did you just... Appear?" Dawn asked, becoming wary, her hands were spread out on the table top, ready to flee.

"I am an Angel of the Lord, I come and go wherever I please." Castiel looked around the room.

"You're a what of the who?" Willow asked, grimacing slightly.

"Angel, Lord." Castiel replied shortly, "I am looking for the Winchesters and your friend. Do you know where they might be?"

"They're out patrolling." She replied, Castiel looked defeated, he slumped into a chair.

"I bet they're having a weird incest-y three way." Anya muttered while looking at her nails, very nonchalantly, "Did you see them? That's what I'd be doing." Everyone, including Castiel, stared at her, their faces turned up in horror.

"Ew." Willow said.

"Dean would never do that." Castiel said, shaking his head, "He's not into that sort of thing."

"Right-" Xander's eyes widened for a moment and he shook his head, "Uh, say, changing the subject, if you're an Angel, then you probably know a lot about these demon's, right?"

"Yes, I know much about them as it was my brother who created them." Castiel replied, folding his hands on the table top in front of him.

"Your brother?" Xander asked.

"Lucifer." He answered shortly.

"Ah." Xander said, slumping back against his chair, out of the conversation for the moment.

"S-so Lucifer is real..." Tara stated, "Is God real?"

"Yes, but he's abandoned us." Castiel sighed, "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Daddy issues." Anya stated, everyone stared at her save Castiel, "What? Am I the only one who's honest?"

"Anyway... Demons. They can possess anyone." Xander began.

"Yes, they do not need permission to enter a person's body. There are ways to protect against that of course. I trust the Winchesters showed you their sigil?" They nodded collectively, Dawn let out a small whimper, Castiel side eyed her and continued, "That will protect you against being possessed by a demon. Though it will not protect you if you give an angel permission, so keep that in mind."

"Wait, Angels possess people!?" Xander asked.

"Yes. But as I said, we need permission." Castiel sighed.

"So... That's not your real body? You're just inside of some poor schmuck?" Xander stared at him, his eyes wide, slightly scared.

"It used to be, but after the last six years, I'd say this is my body. Jimmy Novak has been in Heaven for quite some time." They all looked slightly disgusted, "This body as been destroyed and brought back quite a bit. Also I was human for a time... There was just no possible way to keep Jimmy alive. And remember, he said yes, he accepted his fate."

"So that makes it ok?" Willow asked, her lip curled.

"No." Castiel shook his head, "I would gladly have given up this body to allow Jimmy to be with his family again. But I can't. And Dean err, the Winchester's needed me." They all calmed down slightly after that, realizing collectively that Castiel very obviously devoted himself to Dean and there was nothing anyone could have said that would have made him leave Earth. Could have made him leave Dean Winchester. So they moved on and began asking him about the demon's and other things, he told them stories about his time on Earth, the monster's he'd encountered. They'd been talking for hours without even realizing it.

"What I don't get is, how exactly did Buffy find you on Google? That must have been an interesting website." Xander asked, smiling across at Castiel.

"Website?" Castiel asked, "No, no, I was her guide."

"H-her guide?" Dawn asked, smiling slightly, "Like you guided her back to life?" She smiled at the rest of the table who suddenly all had very eager smiles on their faces.

"No..." Castiel furrowed his brow, confused by the people around him, "I guided her through Heaven... Helped her find her own personal one... Which included a beach and her mother and mimosa's... Will they be home soon?"

"Her what?" Willow asked, her smile faltering and her face becoming horrified.

"Did you say Heaven?" Xander asked, holding up a finger.

"Yes." Castiel said, "When she jumped through the portal that merged our worlds, she was sent to the Heaven from my dimension. I helped her through it."

"Heaven?" Dawn squeaked.

"She d-didn't say a-anything about being in Heaven." Tara said, her eyes filling with concern as she looked to Willow, who had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh." Castiel said, realizing he'd revealed too much, "Oops." They all sat in silence, not looking at each other and not saying anything else.

"I wonder where she is..." Dawn said, breaking the silence, "They've been gone for a while."

"I'm sure they're fine, Dawnie." Willow smiled sadly and before she could say anything else, they heard laughter from outside the front door. They all got up simultaneously, save Castiel, but Dawn made it to the door first. She opened the front door and immediately assumed the position of worried sister.

"Hey!" Dean shouted as he saw Dawn in the doorway.

"We've been worried sick." Dawn said, her lips tight, her lids heavy. It might have been an exaggeration, but she didn't care. The carefree look on Buffy's face told her that her sister would rather be out having fun with two random guys than at home with her. It made her stomach turn, even though Dean and Sam were hotties, she didn't care. She wondered if they knew Buffy was in heaven. The thought sent her anger over the edge. And then Buffy called her Mom, she felt her heavy lids widen and her heart began to beat rapidly as she replied with two words, "Shut up!"

From inside Castiel listened to the exchange between the Summers' sisters and their friends. He heard Dean and Sam and when his name was called and his stomach flipped. He was suddenly very worried that Dean would be angry with him. When he was outed finally, he stepped out to join them and the Winchesters gravitated towards him.

"Cass." Dean eyed him dangerously and pushed him into the dining room. Sam didn't follow, he stayed with everyone else just in case a fight happened. Buffy was drunk and he was unsure what could happen, then again, he was also drunk.

"I'm sorry Dean, I didn't realize-" Castiel began desperately searching for Dean's forgiveness, but the hunter merely held up a hand to shut him up.

"Whatever, you don't have to apologize." Dean shrugged and Castiel tilted his head slightly, noticing Dean was a bit looser than usual, more slumped.

"I don't?" He asked, the nervousness in his stomach not subsiding.

"Nah! Buffy wasn't very forthright with anyone... Except Spike. He seems to know everything." Dean walked very slowly towards Cass as he spoke, but Castiel stepped backward with every step Dean took forward, his eyes still narrowed at the angel.

"I don't get it, if you're not mad, why are you looking at me like that?" Castiel swallowed thickly, hoping that Dean wasn't lying about being mad, it wouldn't be the first time.

"Looking at you how?" Dean asked, pushing Castiel back further still, they'd somehow reached the kitchen.

"Like this..." He did his best to copy Dean's stare and Dean stopped walking and looked down, laughing.

"You know, Cass, not for nothin, but the last person to look at me like that, I got laid." Dean said, raising his eyes to meet Castiel's, they were different, he hadn't seen that look in Dean's eyes before... Well he had, just not in this context; he moved to take another step backward, for good measure, and he found that his back hit a solid surface, the same surface on which Dean had just rested his hand. Cass looked up at it and then down at his feet, and then at Dean and then he did the loop again. His shirt suddenly felt too tight around his neck.

"Dean, I-I'm pretty sure that _I'm_ the last person to look at you like this." He furrowed his brow as he said it and looked around, slightly confused.

"Huh." Dean backed up a step, taking his hand off the wall, he nodded. Cass released a breath, suddenly able to breath again, "Well then we _might_ need to make up for that." He moved in suddenly and Castiel's eyes widened until they heard someone clear their throat behind them and Dean stopped, mid-forward motion, his lips almost touching Castiel's, he could feel his breath on his face, the tip of his nose moved against his own and they turned to see Tara standing in the entrance of the kitchen.

"Sorry." Tara said, holding back a smile she turned her face upwards, "Uh, didn't realize... Um, anyway, we might need you two in the living room, Scooby meeting... You're invited." She turned on her heel, still suppressing her smile and walked out of the room.

"What's a Scooby and why is it meeting?" Castiel asked, trying his best to step around Dean to go into the other room, but as he passed him, Dean caught his arm, holding him in place, awkwardly half stepped around the hunter.

"Cass-" Dean began, but the angel shook his head and cut him off, looking up at him, into his half closed lids.

"Dean, we should-" He sighed deeply, "You're drunk."

"I am?" Dean asked, jokingly, "Hadn't noticed."

"I did, however." He gently pulled his arm from Dean's grasp, "And while I appreciate your attraction to me in your drunken state, I'd like to ask that you save any first moves until you're sober." He continued his motion around Dean, who reached out for the angel again, but he slid out of his grasp before he could be pulled back and Dean reluctantly followed him into the other room.

"Buffy I'm not saying you _had_ to tell us immediately... It just would have been nice for you not to let us believe we saved you from Hell!" Dawn said to Buffy as Dean and Castiel joined the rest of them. The group barely spared them a glance, except Sam, who's eyebrows shot up upon seeing them enter the room.

"And what, Dawn, what would you have liked me to say? Oh, gee, nice to see all of you, I'm now living in agony because you ripped me from my happiness? Is that what you want to hear!?" Buffy was standing, her arms crossed, facing the couch on which Xander, Dawn and Willow were sitting. Anya sat at the desk by the door and Tara was leaning in the door jam. Sam was closer to Buffy, directly across from his brother and the angel, he was trying not to make eye contact with either of them, or he might laugh.

"I'm sorry." Willow muttered, looking positively horrified. Buffy sighed and covered her eyes with a hand, her other hand rested on her hip and she shook her head.

"Look, I can't talk about this now. I'm too... Drunk." She stretched her neck and removed her hand from her eyes, "I'll see you all in the morning." She looked at Sam and half smiled and as she walked out of the room, she pulled Castiel by the hand and led him up the stairs after her. Dean watched them go, a small stab of jealousy hitting him, though he knew better. Nothing was going to happen, she just wanted to talk to him about him telling her loved ones about being in Heaven.

"Ready to go, Dean?" Sam was suddenly next to him, how long he'd been staring open mouthed at the stairs, he wasn't sure.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Let's get out of this feels fest." Without sparing his brother or the stairs a glance, he pushed out of the front door and came face to face with an older man, causing him to drop the car keys he'd just pulled from his pocket, "Son of a bitch!"

"I beg your pardon?" The man asked and Dean looked up as he grabbed a hold of his keys.

"My bad." Dean said, half smiling at the man, "You here to see Buffy?" He stepped aside to let Sam out of the door.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Who are you two?" He eyed Sam and Dean suspiciously.

"The Winchesters." Sam said, holding out his hand, "I'm Sam, this is my brother, Dean."

"Rupert Giles." He took a hold of Sam's hand and shook it firmly, "You're... Friends... Of hers?" He looked slightly nervous and his hand twitched towards his glasses, but it was obvious he didn't want to take them off for fear of getting caught off guard.

"New friends." Dean shrugged, "We were just leaving, actually. She's in there, upstairs with Cass." He stepped to the side, opening a hole between him and his brother.

"Cass?" Giles asked, stepping through the gap and looking towards the stairs.

"Our angel friend." Dean said, "Well we'd better get going, catch ya later, Rupert!" He ran down the stairs, leaving Sam to smile and wave awkwardly as he followed him. Giles entered the house and closed the door behind him.

**Ah, Giles, how we've missed you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So... How about that supernatural season finale, eh? EH!? WHAT THE EFF! I expect Chuck to return next season. I just expect it. HE'D BETTER! Isn't he God? **

**So now we're going under the assumption that removing the mark had no repercussions. Okay? Okay! Okay, moving on...**

"I don't know Dean, I don't think we should leave." Sam said to his brother as he watched him pack up their belongings and lug them out to the Impala.

"Why not? We finished our job, and Buffy's friends know where she really was. It's not like there's anything else keeping us here." Dean sighed and slammed the trunk of his baby shut and began walking to the driver's side.

"What about the whole, 'demons can possess vampires' thing?" Sam asked, obviously fishing for a reason to stay. Dean shook his head and rubbed his eyes. They'd been in that town three weeks too long and it was very clear that Sam was starting to take a liking to the Scooby Gang. Not that Dean hadn't, he just didn't like lingering for too long in one place. They had a home, it was at the bunker, not in Sunnydale.

"I think they can fight their own battles, Sammy."

"Are you sure? Because it seemed like they might need help. I mean, Dawn did run off with some vampire last night!" Sam shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the car, his brow worried as he stared at Dean. Dean sighed, he could tell how badly Sam wanted to stay, but he wasn't exactly sure why.

"Why do you want to stay so bad?" He decided a direct route was the best to take.

"I just don't think we're done here." Sam pushed further, but Dean wasn't budging. He stared at his brother through heavy lids. Sam realized he was fighting a losing battle and sighed, "Alright, let's at least go say bye?"

"Fine." Dean said, opening the driver's side door and climbing in.

They pulled up to the house and parked out front. Having been there for so long, they no longer needed to knock, they could enter without being attacked, which they were the first time they did it. Sure, it was Dawn with a large book, Sam's head hurt for a few minutes, but since then they'd been fine.

"Hey guys." Dawn said, still sulking on the couch when they walked in. She'd been reprimanded by Giles the night before for lying and going on a date. It wouldn't have been so bad if her date hadn't turned out to be a vampire.

"Hey Dawnie." Sam said, "Where uh, where's Buffy?" Dawn snorted, her arms crossed over her chest, she rolled her eyes.

"Somewhere being all high and mighty. Why?"

"We are actually heading out of town." Sam announced and Dawn perked up, sitting up straight, her eyes widened slightly.

"You're what?" She stood, her anger seeming to grow every second.

"We're leaving, moving on to the next case." Dean said, "There's a wendigo in Virginia that's-"

"I don't care!" Dawn interrupted, "We need you here!"

"I've been trying to tell him that Virginia is way too close to the FBI, but he won't listen." Sam tried to lighten the mood, but it only served to make Dawn more angry.

"That's not the point, Sam. The point is," He looked from his brother back to the youngest Summers, "Your sister protects this town, and yeah maybe even the world... But there are people out there all over the country relying on us."

"You guys are leaving?" They turned to see Willow standing in the doorway with Tara behind her, her face was turned up into a slight grimace. Tara stood awkwardly behind her.

"Yeah, windigo in Virginia." Dean explained.

"Ooh! Hey! What if I could zap the windigo here for you guys to fight?" Willow suggested, brightening up considerably.

"No!" Tara almost shouted from behind her. Everyone looked to where she was now covering her face, trying to recover from the embarrassment only she felt, "I just mean, I'm sure they can fight this thing without your help, without magic. You guys have a safe trip." She backed away and ran up the stairs without another word. They all watched her go, Willow with a horrified look on her face.

"I'm sure we'll see you again soon?" Willow half asked and half assured as she ran up the stairs, yelling for Tara.

"They've been fighting about magic for a couple days now." Dawn explained, though Sam knew, he'd seen the tension as well. Dean, however, had no clue, because he'd been spending most of his time with Buffy and coincidentally, Spike. They'd been out patrolling for Drusilla.

"Magic can be dangerous, it's power addicting. It's like a drug." Sam said, trying to avoid his brothers eyes, they'd both had their brush with addicting power. The outcome was never nice.

"Buffy's out back." Dawn sighed, plopping onto the couch, defeated, "I'd better see you before you leave for good."

"You think we'd leave you and not say goodbye?" Dean said, walking around to the back door, Dawn watched them leave the room and huffed, looking back to the cartoons on the TV.

They found Buffy in the backyard doing some strange tai-chi that she'd told Dean about; she learned it from her old beau, Angel. She heard the back door open and turned quickly, as if expecting a fight.

"You expect something to attack you now? It's the middle of the day." Sam said, heading down the steps into the yard.

"You never know." Buffy shrugged, "Ever since the weird repeat-y day, anything is possible."

"Ah yes, the day of the exploding lint." Dean half smiled.

"What's up?" Buffy asked, her hands falling to her hips as they usually did.

"We came to say goodbye." Sam said, though Dean could hear the reluctance in his tone.

"What?" She responded, obviously surprised, "Wha-why? When?"

"Well, now." Sam said, "Dean says there's a monster out there that needs taking care of, so we're off."

"So soon? I thought you'd be around for a bit longer. I mean with the wedding coming up and all."

"The wedding isn't for a few months." Dean said, "We can probably make it back for that. But don't tell Anya that, I don't want her making plans... Forcing us to be groomsmen or whatever. She'd probably try to pawn us off on her vengeance demon friends."

"I wouldn't put it past her." Buffy pouted slightly, "I was gonna make tacos for dinner."

"Ooh, Tacos." Dean smiled, "We could stay for that."

"Oh so you'll stay for tacos?" Sam scoffed as Buffy led them back into the house.

"Only a crazy person would say no to delicious stuffed meaty cheesy goodness." Buffy smiled, heading to the freezer to pull out the hamburger.

They ate and talked and laughed, and for some reason, the boys didn't feel like leaving town just yet.

"One last patrol?" Buffy asked, "Before you guys hit the road I mean."

"Sure." Dean said, looking to his brother who of course was up for anything that meant they got to stay a bit longer.

"Let's go then." They readied their weapons and headed out to the nearest cemetery. Nothing serious was going down, no big bads' to look for and the brothers were particularly thankful for that one.

"Buffy, I gotta ask..." Sam began talking as they walked slowly amongst the headstones, "How have you done this for so long? I mean we travel and fight demons and other monsters, but you stay put. You've staked your claim on this city, pun intended."

"It's not like I asked to be the slayer and to get send to the hell mouth, that's just how it happened." Buffy shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I just keep going."

"Going?" Dean asked, he wasn't sure why, it just seeming like the right thing to ask. If they weren't mistaken, they could swear they heard the beginnings of some sort of song.

"Is that an orchestra?" Sam muttered, looking around. Then Buffy turned to them, shrugged and turned her back, they watched as she strolled along through the graveyard, but for some reason knew not to follow her, that they were just supposed to watch.

"Every single night, the same arrangement, I go out and fight the fight..." But she wasn't talking.

"Is she singing?" Dean asked.

"I think she's singing." Sam replied, they looked at each other and then back to Buffy.

"We've got to get out of here." They both said simultaneously as Buffy began to sing as she fought vampires, which strangely seemed to dance along. They backed away and before anyone could notice they'd left, they lurched into a sprint.

"What the hell is going on!? I can hear the backing orchestra following us!" Dean yelled as they drove the Impala as quickly as they could through town. Everywhere they went there were people breaking out into song and dance. It was unnerving.

"Drive faster, Dean!" Sam urged as they finally left the center of town, Dean could see the _You are now leaving Sunnydale_ sign ahead. But as soon as they reached it, the car automatically stopped and stalled out.

"What?" Dean exclaimed, getting out of the car and slamming the door. He walked up to where the town line would be and stuck out his hand. It was like a wall was blocking him from the other side, "What is this?" He rammed it with his shoulder, no good, he was still in Sunnydale.

"Dean?" Sam asked, getting out of the car, "What does this mean?"

"It means we can't leave this damn town, is what it means." Dean huffed and walked back to the car, getting in and slamming the door shut. He turned it back on and put it in reverse, driving back into town, the swelling music causing him to cringe.

**The next chapter or so is going to be ridiculous and fluff and just not motivating to the plot story at all. I'm gonna be working a lot the next few days and I just want to give something, and all my brain can come up with at the moment (because it's SO FRIED) is fun, fun, fun. And Once More With Feeling is my favorite episode. Well not my favorite, but one of them. Who doesn't love a good musical.**

**Now remember how awesome it was to see James Marsters singing with his voice *sigh*... Now imagine Jensen singing... *double sigh*... Now imagine Dean singing to Cass... *what's more than a sigh* I promise after the fluffiness and singing will come plot advancement. But right now, we deserve a little fun. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, sorry this took a bit. But with working and I was at awesome con all weekend... BUT HEY I MET JAMES MARSTERS AND AMBER BENSON AND EMMA CAUFIELD! SO IT FELT KINDA WEIRD WRITING ABOUT THEM WHEN I'D JUST MET THEM.**

**I also met Mark Pellegrino and we talked about how awesome Mark Sheppard is, AND HE TRICKED ME. He was all "Have you met Mark Sheppard?" and I said no, and he goes, "Do you want to?" And reached INTO his jacket pocket but then was all, "Ahh I'm kidding there's nothing in there." HE REALLY IS LUCIFER! HE'S THE DEVIL. **

**There's a link to the song in my profile, listen before or listen after, you decide!**

**Listen and enjoy! [=**

Dean and Sam were hesitant to leave their hotel room the next morning. They were worried that stepping outside of the doors meant they'd burst into song, but they heard singing through the walls, something pertaining to getting down and getting busy and they decided leaving would probably be better than listening to any more of that. They went straight for the Magic Box, not really understanding why, but knowing that they needed to be there.

"It's as if someone is writing our story, and we're just going where they want us to." Sam said, and they both stopped walking and stared around, searching for a person with a typewriter or something.

"You're thinking this could be a Tulpa?" Dean asked as they neared the doors.

"I'm not sure." Sam sighed, "Maybe a Tulpa merged with some weird Broadway demon from this dimension."

"Well either way, it's strange that we can't actually leave town." Dean stopped talking as they heard singing begin from across the street, a man was coming out of the dry cleaners, holding up a shirt, singing about a mustard stain.

"Let's get inside." Dean rushed to the door and just as he was about to open it, Buffy opened it first.

"Oh, hey guys." She seemed surprised to see them, "Where'd you go last night?" She turned back and let them in behind her. They closed the door as she began talking to the rest of the group, "It's not just us."

"Yeah, it's the whole freakin town." Dean said, "And we can't leave."

"Meaning like, you have to stay to help?" Buffy asked.

"No, meaning like, we tried to leave when we heard the swelling music and we couldn't pass the town line." Dean hopped onto the counter and Sam leaned up against it. Buffy was facing the entire group, her arms crossed over her chest.

"So did you sing?" Anya asked, eager to hear if they did.

"No." Dean laughed, wiping at his forehead, "Thankfully." He was laughing as he looked at Sam, who stiffened and tilted his head, "What?" Dean asked, Sam looked at him and shrugged, clearing his throat.

"What?" He asked, laughing awkwardly, "No, no I didn't-" He tried to deny it, but Dean raised his brows, he knew he was caught, "Ok, maybe I did. But it was after you went to sleep! I couldn't help it!"

"So glad I wasn't awake to hear you, you're my brother and I love you, but you're tone deaf." Dean clapped him on the shoulder and hopped off the counter, "So here's the deal, me and Sam have dealt with something called a Tulpa, which is kind of just a materialization of a thought-"

"Yeah, so if someone is thinking hard enough about their town being a musical-"

"It could become that. Sort of." Dean shrugged, "It's the best we've got at the moment."

"We've had something like that before!" Willow exclaimed, "See, my theory could be right!"

"Let's not bring up our song, please." Xander covered his face and sighed.

"Wait, you guys sang?" Dean asked, looking around, getting increasingly uncomfortable.

"Yeah, kind of right before you got here." Buffy half smiled in apology.

"Glad we missed it." Dean rubbed at the back of his neck, "So, Wil, you said you've dealt with something like this before too?"

"Yeah, when we were younger, this kid was in a coma and his nightmares were becoming reality for everyone." Willow shrugged, "Could be something like that, only his nightmare is that everyone sings."

"Would that really be a nightmare, though?" Sam asked, skeptical.

"It seems like it's Xander's nightmare." Anya rubbed at his back as a way to console him.

"Well, we can hit the books or Google and let's figure out what's causing this thing." Sam said, sitting at the table with the rest of the group, Dean shrugged and headed straight to the back for the training room, feeling that some time alone with the punching bag would help if he started getting the urge to sing.

About an hour later, Dawn came in, excited that her school sang; then Willow and Tara left, definitely a song coming on there. Sam sighed as he looked around, his web searches were bringing up nothing but plans for real life musicals. He scoffed as he saw "Twilight: The Musical!" When he looked up supernatural and musical. He was also surprised to see a review of the musical based on the books Chuck wrote. The review was written by-

"Dean!" Sam shouted, Dean ran from the back, drenched in sweat.

"What?" He asked, breathing heavily, he walked straight up to his brother, looking over his shoulder, "What is that?"

"It's a review of the Supernatural musical."

"Okay, and?"

"Look who wrote it." Sam said, staring at his brother, waiting for him to catch on.

"What is Supernatural the Musical?" Dawn asked from her seat at the counter, Sam looked at her and then to the rest of the group, who were equally as confused.

"It's a musical written by this girl at a prep school... Based on the book series, Supernatural." Sam explained, they continued to stare, "Which was written by a prophet... About us."

"About you?" Giles asked, "A prophet wrote a series of books about to two of you?"

"That's what I said." Sam shrugged, "We were just as confused. It really messed up hunting for us in a few towns, they thought we were LARPing as ourselves."

"LARPing?" Xander asked.

"Written by Chuck Shurley!?" Dean shouted suddenly, interrupting their conversation, "Oh, sorry."

"Who's Chuck Shurley?" Buffy asked, "Is he someone important? Could he be doing this?"

"No, he's the prophet who wrote our books." Sam explained.

"But he disappeared, we haven't heard from him since-" Dean cut himself off, "Actually, I don't want to explain just in case my story turns into some song about us."

"We haven't seen him since I beat back Lucifer and pulled Michael into the cage." Sam finished and then turned to Dean, "See, no power chords, we're fine."

"I'm just gonna zip it." He replied, determined not to spark any musical urges.

"Alright, alright." Sam laughed, shaking his head, "Have it your way. Don't talk until this thing is over. It'll be like a vacation." Dean held up a very ingracious finger and went back into the training room to continue punching things and throwing knives.

"So your whole lives are written in books?" Dawn asked, "Like books that we can buy?"

"Yeah, Chuck wrote them about all our big cases up until Swan Song, which is when he disappeared. They were big with the fans until we met him, then they felt like he was conceited, writing himself into the books and all that." Sam sighed, scrolling through some more pages online, "I wonder what he's doing." He smiled slightly and then continued reading. Dawn tapped her pencil against her paper and then made a note to visit a bookstore later so she could 'borrow' some Supernatural books.

"Hey, I'm going out patrolling, gonna stop by Spike's to see if he knows anything." Buffy said much later, pulling Dean out of his training mode, "Wanna come with?" Dean contemplated this for a moment but felt like he should just be alone for the night, just in case.

"Nah, I'm good. Have a good time, don't sing anything I wouldn't sing." Dean joked and Buffy rolled her eyes, leaving him to his throwing knives.

"Dean, me, Anya and Xander are headed to the Bronze, you wanna come?" Sam was the next to interrupt.

"I'm good, I kinda just want to be alone." Dean said to his brother, he was lying, of course, but how could he tell Sam that it wasn't him he wanted to spend time with, it was a certain angel.

"Yeah, sure." Sam pursed his lips for a minute but decided to let it be and turned, also leaving Dean alone. Dean left about five minutes later, bidding Giles a good night and heading out. He didn't know where he was going, only that he'd figure it out when he got there.

He ended up driving to a random playground, which was deserted, seeing how it was about 11 pm. There was a large party across the street with a bunch of teenagers singing about it being Friday and about drinking. He shook his head and sat down on a swing, realizing suddenly that he hadn't sat on a swing in a long time. He wondered briefly how long it had been for Castiel.

"Hello, Dean." Dean nearly fell off the swing when Castiel appeared on the one next to him.

"Holy!" Dean shouted, turning to the angel, "How the hell did you know I was here?"

"You called for me." Cass furrowed his brow, "I heard you, there's no other way I could have known."

"Well your angel radio is broken, cause I didn't." Dean said awkwardly, he didn't want to leave, though, so he just continued to sit there and not look at the angel, though he wanted to badly.

"Strange." Cass said, sighing, "Oh well, if there's nothing you need me for I suppose I'll-"  
"No!" Dean cut him off, "I-I mean, I haven't seen you in a while, stick around for a bit."

"Alright, Dean." Castiel replied, he then pushed back and began to swing, Dean watched him for a moment and decided to join in. They swung like that for a long time, not saying a word; somewhere along the line they began to compete for who could swing higher, "Dean, you realize I'm an angel, I have wings, I'll be able to swing higher."

"Yeah, but you can't actually fly, you just disappear and then reappear." Dean challenged, the chains on his swing jumping as he swung higher than he probably should have.

"No, we fly. We just do it very fast." Castiel explained, looking over at Dean every so often, trying to match his height but for some reason was too wary to do so. He didn't like the look of the chains or the wood that they were attached to.

"Sure, sure." Dean teased, "So you're saying if I jumped off and you flew off, you'd be at the ground before me?"

"Yes, I suppose so." Cass replied, his brow furrowing, very clearly thinking it through.

"It wasn't supposed to be that hard of a question." Dean laughed and began to slow his swinging, Castiel followed suit. They finally came to a stop and Dean turned to look at the angel, and that's when he heard it.

"Are you alright, Dean?" Cass asked, very clearly confused by the panicked look growing on the hunter's face.

"Do you hear that?" Dean asked, looking around.

"The music?" Castiel said, listening hard and indeed hearing the soft guitar chords, "Whose song is that, do you think?"

"Mine..." Dean sighed, "I just know it, I can feel it. Man! I don't want to!"

"Just go with it." Cass shrugged, Dean stared at him in surprise, "What? Clearly there's something you need to say. So say it."

"Cass, I just- there's some stuff you've gotta understand, I guess." Dean was struggling, he turned to face the front as the words began rising in his throat, as if he were about to vomit, but instead, he began to sing.

_There I was at the crossroads...  
__Put my life in a box,  
__I summoned someone down below  
__To find their way to the top_

Dean rubbed his face, and felt Castiel shifting beside him.

_I didn't have much money  
__In fact, I had none at all  
__I was just a culprit of credit card fraud_

He laughed as he sang the words, Castiel did as well.

_But see, I've got nothing at all  
__Without Family,  
__Without Sammy_

_Sealed the deal with a kiss,  
__But without my brother,  
__I wasn't gonna make it through this_

He wasn't exactly sure what he wouldn't have been able to make it through, perhaps he just meant life.

_Could't break the deal,  
__Or Sammy would die,  
__And Oh god,  
__I'm hungry for a piece of pie_

Castiel laughed aloud, and that made his suffering through the song worth it.

_Cause I've got nothing at all,  
__Without family,  
__Without Sammy_

Dean got up off of his swing, Castiel followed him as they began to walk away from the park and to the benches, the angel sat and Dean stood before him, hands stuffed into his pocket, his foot kicking at the ground as the chords grew softer.

_Sold my soul,  
__I had a year to live  
__But you know for Sammy,  
__There's nothing I wouldn't give_

_If hell was my destiny  
__I'd take it quietly,  
__If that meant Sammy was free_

_Down there deep inside the pit,  
__I'd turned into something else,  
__I never thought I'd give into it..._

He dropped his head and sat down next to Cass, it was as if he was having an intimate conversation with Castiel, everything he'd felt about Hell and being pulled out was rising to the surface. There was one realization that he had yet to face, that he hadn't ever even said out loud, and he could feel it coming.

_Then I was back on Earth,  
__A handprint burned on my skin,  
__That's when I realized,  
__I had the chance to begin again_

_Cause I had nothing at all,  
__Without family,  
__Without Sammy_

_But then you came, bursting with light  
__Cass, you saved me  
__You're more than family_

_I can feel your grace,  
__Everywhere I go  
__It's been quite a while,  
__Forgive me for taking it slow_

_You've never given up, not once,  
__Even when we didn't agree,  
__You rolled with every punch_

"Literally." Castiel laughed, his smile lit up his entire face and Dean smiled in return. Their eyes met and for some reason, Dean knew to reach out and take Cass' hand, who gave it willingly.

_Can you forgive a foolish man?  
__Distrusting and scorned,  
__But ready to give it a chance_

_Cause you're my destiny,  
__I can't sit quietly  
__Unless you say you'll stay with me..._

He looked down at their hands and when he looked back up, the angel's eyes were narrowed at him, as if he was trying to figure something out. As if he was trying to discern whether Dean's song was truthful.

_Please before I go,  
__I've gotta make it known,  
__That Castiel,  
__I love you-_

His song was cut off, Dean couldn't fathom how it was supposed to end because the chords ended immediately once Castiel leaned forward and touched his lips to the hunter's. It was soft, tentative and unsure, but at least it was happening.

When the angel pulled back and they'd both opened their eyes, it was like the magic of the song had faded away, there was no longer any backing orchestra and Dean felt slightly self-conscious about the fact that he'd just sung a song to an angel. But he didn't regret it, and he could feel that Cass didn't regret what he'd just done. He looked down and their hands were still intwined; that was enough for the moment.

**The song in my profile is shorter and a bit different, but it's still the same tune and such! [=**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it took me so long after the last chapter! I've just been working SO DAMN MUCH! And these other story ideas keep infiltrating my miiiiiiind! But here's a chapter! Yay!**

No one spoke for a few days after the dancing demon left, they were all a bit embarrassed; the glamour of the spell had been lifted and a lot of shame settled in amongst the scoobies. Spike had taken it upon himself to follow Buffy around, they'd kissed in front of the falling curtains and swelling music and it was glorious, but she didn't seem to share his sentiment.

She seemed to have told Dean and Sam that she didn't want him around because every time she was out with the brothers, who he thought would have left town by now, they would shoo him off and threaten him with stakes or holy water. He hated those brooding bastards more than he hated Xander, and that was saying a lot.

He ended his night like he usually did, back in his crypt with a good bottle of whisky, his stories on the telly. He was about to get up and grab a cup of blood when he heard someone standing behind him, wiping off their jacket. He stood up, ready for a fight.

"Oh, it'll do you no good. Just sit back down." The rough British accent sounded and he recognized the voice, he turned to see that same short demon that was in the shop when the Winchesters showed up. Crowley, was his name.

"What are you doin in here?" Spike asked, unamused at the intrusion.

"Came to have a tete-a-tete. Thought you might like to make a deal of sorts." He walked closer to Spike, looking around with a grimace, "Perhaps some new digs?"

"I like where I'm at just fine. Don't want to be making any deals with you, don't have a soul for you to take anyhow. You can see yourself out, thanks." He smiled ruefully and plopped back down into his chair, the blood in his fridge all but forgotten.

"Oh I know you don't have a soul, that's not what I'm interested in. It's not what you can do for me, William, it's what _I _can do for _you_." He turned back around, interest peaked at the sound of his real name.

"How do you-"

"William the Bloody, awful poet, an even worse man. Lived with your mother until you became a vampire, and then your mother mysteriously disappeared. I'd wager you turned her and then killed her when you didn't like what she'd become." Crowley stood with his hands behind his back and a smug look on his face, his brow raised at the end of his history lesson.

"Alright, alright. Enough with the stories, I was there mate, I know everything. What exactly do you think you can do for me?" Crowley smirked.

"Well for starters, I can make that chip in your head inactive, make it so you can kill again." Spike's ears perked up, a rush of something was sent through him at the thought of being able to taste fresh blood again. Then Buffy's disgusted face popped into his head and he was immediately knocked back down a peg.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'm good as is." He clenched his jaw, not even understanding why he'd just turned down his first real shot at being his old self again. The only thing he could think of was that Buffy would never kiss who he used to be, and he really wanted to kiss her again, amongst other things.

"Oh it's been done for quite some time, think of it as a free gift from Hell to you. Whether or not you use the gift is completely your choice. But I do have a way that you could use it and not feel bad about it, or guilty. A way for you to not care one bit about that little blonde piece." Spike stared at Crowley for some time, he couldn't believe that he'd had the ability to bite people back and hadn't known. But then, when would he have had the chance to test it out?

"And how would you do that?" Spike asked, swallowing thickly, pretty sure he already knew the answer came with black eyes.

"I think you know, William, but I'll tell you anyway." Crowley shuffled around a few seconds before he faced Spike again, as if the few brief moments of silence were somehow building suspense up to the big reveal. Spike scoffed and rolled his eyes, "All you have to do, is allow one of my employees to occupy space in your body. And you get to reap the benefits."

"Right, you let one of your demons possess me and poof, my inhibitions are gone and I'm free to kill who I want, when I want." He sucked in his cheeks as he stared at Crowley, "No deal, mate. I'm fine the way I am." Crowley laughed very briefly and then tilted his head at Spike, the gleam he found there was not comforting. It told him that he hadn't come to make a deal, he'd come to let Spike know he would be possessed whether he said yes or not. It wasn't up to him. And then he was gone, and Spike was staring down air.

Spike stood from his seat and walked to the fridge, grabbing his blood bag, he began pouring it into his favorite mug. He'd downed about half of it when the door to his crypt slammed open. He jumped back, almost dropping the cup but succeeding in catching it midway and spilled about a quarter of its contents onto his shirt. Luckily he always wore black, so there wouldn't be any stains. It still sucked though.

Buffy stood in front of him, arms crossed, face stern.

"Yes, hello, can I help you?" Spike asked sarcastically, upset about the wasted meal on his clothing.

"We just had a run in with Drusilla. She was lurking around." Buffy said, Spike raised a brow at that.

"Did you now? And you've popped in to what? Make sure she didn't come see me?" Spike immediately put on his bad boy routine and he sauntered up to the slayer who scoffed, "Jealous are we?" He stepped a bit closer to Buffy and she turned her head and pushed him away.

"No. I just came to make sure you weren't possessed, but I see that you're fine and now I'm leaving." She went to walk away but Spike grabbed her wrist, holding her back, she didn't fight him off.

"So you were worried about me, then?" He smiled smugly and Buffy turned to him, the humor and emotion was nowhere to be found and he knew what she'd say next.

"I came to make sure I wouldn't have to kill you. But I see you're still yourself, I'll be leaving." She pulled her arm from his grasp with ease and rushed out the door. Spike growled and gripped at his hair. She was exhausting and it didn't make him love her any less. He threw his mug across the room and it smashed against the wall into pieces.

"Damn. I liked that cup." He huffed and then hurried off down his hole and into his bedroom, he was too tired to deal with anything else.

While he slept the door of his crypt crept open and in wafted a dark mist. It found its way around the room and down through a hole in the ground to where a sleeping Spike lay. He turned his back on it promptly, though he was unaware of its presence. It still found its way to him, however, and let itself into his body.

He woke up gasping for air that he didn't need.


	9. Chapter 9

**I know these days, demons and such aren't really THAT big of a deal for the Supernatural guys, like Cas can just smite the crap out of demons and Dean isn't afraid of em cause he's been one and blah blah blah... But hey, they're still assholes, and they still fuck with shit. **

**And who knows what kind of crazy stuff they've merged with in the Buffyverse. **

**That being said, enjoy this next little chapter, I'm kinda sick today and haven't had a day off in about two weeks, so this is all I can shove out for now! I'll hopefully have a bit more time to rest and rejuvenate. ENJOY!**

Buffy sat up straight, gasping for air, sweating an obscene amount. There were whispers of something in her mind, and she wasn't sure where they were coming from or what they were trying to tell her. Her dreams had been violent, filled with cryptic messages from an unknown source. She couldn't quite discern what they were trying to tell her and that's when she felt it, the one word, the one thing she could make out from the frenzy of warnings.

_Spike_. It said, _Spike._

She threw her legs over the side of her bed and fumbled around in the dark for her clothing, she knew that if the strange slayer powers that be were trying to warn her about Spike, then something bad had happened. Something really bad.

She found her way down her stairs, Sam was sleeping on the couch but the space set up for Dean on the floor was empty, that made her heart race a bit more. She turned around a few times, listening, trying to get a feel for where he might be. She opted to go toward the back door, thinking maybe he was in the kitchen.

The kitchen was empty. But the back door was unlocked, she turned the knob and pulled the door open and was immediately surprised by the sight before her.

"Oh!" She shouted, covering her eyes, why she wasn't sure, it's not like they were indecent.

Castiel and Dean parted quickly, well Dean stood up quickly from where he was basically on top of Castiel on the back steps. He stood up and straightened out his shirt, clearing his throat a bit awkwardly, he smiled as he looked up at the slayer.

"Buffy! Great to see you. Sleep well?" He had his hands on his hips and Buffy uncovered her eyes to look at him, only to have to look away again, she didn't mean to look, it was just so obvious.

"Yeah, slept okay... Bed was a bit... Hard..." She shook her head at her warning but the message was clear and Dean clasped his hands in front of him. He tilted his head and smiled awkwardly, shrugging.

"It's only natural." Castiel said from the steps, though he hadn't made an effort to stand yet, Buffy could only assume why.

"Right, well actually I'm glad you're awake, both of you." Buffy sighed, getting down to business, "I had a dream, sort of... It woke me up. It was a warning."

"About what?" Dean asked, clearly switching to business mode in front of her, Castiel finally stood up, obviously flicking the same switch.

"Spike." She said, "It was a warning, something's happened to him, I can only guess what."

"You think he's been possessed?" Dean asked, "Why would that knowledge come to you in a dream?"

"Because being a slayer is weird." Buffy shrugged, "I don't know, I only know that when I went by to see him earlier, he was jumpy..."

"Do you want to go check on him?" Castiel asked, Buffy nodded. She began walking past them when Cas reached out and grabbed her shoulder, in an instant they were standing in front of Spike's crypt and her insides felt all twisty.

"Woah, head rush!" Buffy exclaimed, her hands flying to her head.

"Tell me about it." Dean huffed, rubbing at his face.

"Well, thanks for the lift angel boy." Buffy patted Castiel's shoulder and then opened the door to the crypt. It was already slightly ajar, but the room was dark. Dean and Cas exchanged a look and then followed her in and down the hole into Spike's bedroom. It was just as dark as the upstairs, but there was a very obvious lump in the blankets. Spike was sleeping, or at least pretending to sleep in a very convincing manner.

Buffy looked around and found a candle sitting on a table, she threw it across the room at him. He sat up and turned on a light, looking at her quite unamused.

"What in the bloody hell!" Spike shouted and then his eyes landed on Buffy, he smirked and sucked in his cheeks, "Oh hello, love. Come for a late night rendezvous?" Buffy scoffed and he looked past her to Dean and Castiel, "Though your friends will have to wait upstairs, sorry love, I don't do couples... Or men."

"We came to check on you, I-" Buffy was cut off by Castiel placing a hand on her shoulder, she turned to him, he was looking past her at Spike.

"We need to leave." He said.

"Why?" She whispered, the look in his eyes told her that he meant it.

"I don't see anything." Castiel cleared his throat and stood up straight, "He's not possessed. His face is the same." Buffy turned from Cas to Spike, who was tilting his head and looking at them all in a predatory manner.

"Right." Buffy said, "Sorry... Guess I was just worried about you and couldn't sleep, Cas decided to humor me and bring me here."

"You do care." Spike smirked and Buffy laughed a bit uncomfortably. She was about to reply when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and then they were back at her house, in her kitchen.

"What the hell, Cas?" Dean asked.

"His face-" Castiel visibly shuttered, "I don't know who that was, but whoever the demon is, they're in the same class as Crowley... As Alastair and Azazel... As Lilith."

"Ok, so it's a badass demon, what's the problem?" Dean asked, Buffy was visibly defeated, she sat in a chair at the island, her lips in a pout, her arms crossed over her chest.

"It's a badass demon in the body of a vampire. Super strength, the ultimate predator times two." Castiel explained, Dean shrugged, he still didn't understand, "It can't be killed with a stake, and who knows if it's able to be exorcised."

"So what do we do?" Buffy asked, a feeling of hopelessness working its way up into her chest, she hated that feeling.

"We can start by trying to exorcise the damn thing." Dean said, "Couldn't hurt to try."

"We can start by revoking his invitation." Buffy said, pushing down whatever feelings were threatening to impede in her mission and getting up, she had to get to Willow, she had to keep him out of the house. She ran around the corner and Cas and Dean followed.

"It might not even matter." Castiel said, "There is a demon possessing him now, regular vampire rules might not apply."

"What did Dean say a second ago? It couldn't hurt to try?" Buffy asked, a rather unamused but very determined look on her face. She knocked on Willow's door. There was no answer, "She must be sleeping." She sighed but pushed open the door anyway, "Hey Wil-" She found her way into the room but there was no one in the bed.

"What's up?" Dean asked, looking around the corner at the empty bed, "Where are they?"

"I don't know." She said, pouting a bit. A feeling of panic settled within her and she rushed to Dawn's bedroom, throwing open the door, her bed was also empty, "Dawn!" She shouted, rushing to the bathroom, the door wasn't even closed and the lights were off, "Oh god." She said, turning in circles for a brief moment before remembering that Sam was asleep on the couch; she and Dean exchanged a look simultaneously thinking the same thing.

They ran down the stairs and into the now empty living room, "Sam!" Dean shouted, turning for a moment, his brother was nowhere to be found.

"Where is everyone?" Buffy asked, "How could they have possibly disappeared in the time it took for us to go check on Spike."

"They were waiting, perhaps." Castiel said, "Watching." He looked to Dean who cleared his throat and shifted a bit.

"You mean they were uh, watching us?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest, "I feel a bit violated."

"This isn't funny, guys." Buffy said, her fists clenched at her side, "Someone took my sister and my friends, and I'm gonna find out who."

"The witches were necessary." A voice said suddenly, it was a small voice, one Buffy had heard before. She turned to see a familiar person walking towards them, "The others were just collateral."

"Jonathan?" She asked, her head tilted slightly, Jonathan smiled, his eyes flashing black.

"Not anymore."


	10. Chapter 10

**THIS CHAPTER IS A BIT SHORT! I'M SORRY! I'VE BEEN WORKING A LOT, SO THIS IS KIND OF JUST A LITTLE HOLDER AND SUCH. BUT OMG, NEXT WEEKEND I'M GOING TO THE SUPERNATURAL CONVENTION, AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

Spike found possession to be ridiculously bothersome. It wasn't like his mind was taken over by this evil thing as much as it was that there were constant whispers. It was giving him a headache. Had he actually had a soul, he was sure he'd have been bonkers by the end of the day.

He stared in the mirror, which he could now see himself in, strange side effect of demonic possession, to have a reflection. He poked at his face and found he couldn't really feel it, it was like he was numb.

"Well that's useful, I suppose." He said to himself before patting his own face and turning away from the mirror. Why he even had a mirror in his place, he wasn't quite sure. He voiced his confusion aloud.

"Probably something to do with that pesky slayer or her brat of a sister." A smug voice said behind him, Spike turned, on edge, ready to fight, to find Warren standing there, a blonde guy next to him.

"What do you want, robot boy?" Spike scoffed, walking away from the mirror and grabbing his bottle of whiskey along the way.

"We just came by to check how things were working out. Haven't heard any stats from you as of yet. We were hoping you'd check in first." It was at this point that Spike really looked at Warren and noticed that his face wasn't actually his. There was another, uglier, nastier face hiding just beneath the skin of his human one. His eyes were black as well, just great.

"Sorry, you want an update from me? About what?" Spike tilted his head.

"I suppose Crowley didn't really explain our agenda to you _before_ you became an employee, I get that. I do. But now that you've been... Hired... It's your job to kill the slayer, and the Winchester, and the angel." Warren was smiling as he delivered this mission.

"Why would I do that?" Spike replied, this answer did not please the little demon and his minion.

"Because it's your job. The demon inside of you should have told you that." As he said this, the whispers in his head grew louder, but they were still mostly incoherent, "We chose you for a reason, Spike. _This _is your purpose, don't let us down."

Spike turned his back on them for a moment, trying to control his rage; he hated being told what to do, it reminded him of his time with Angelus, Darla and Drusilla. He absolutely abhorred feeling lesser than; the demon inside of him hated it too. The demon inside of him hated it almost as much as he hated Crowley.

When he turned back around, the two idiots were gone and he was left alone. It didn't last long, a few moments later Buffy suddenly appeared with the angel and the brooding Winchester. They looked angry. He expected the slayer or the hunter to run at him, but it was the angel who took the initiative to slam him against the wall, his forearm pressing against his throat, a hand flew up to his forehead. That was initially confusing, but he could feel some burning power flowing through the angel that connected with his hand, it was suddenly alarming to the demon inside of him, this was not a position he wanted to be in.

"Where are they?" Castiel growled, Spike was confused, he looked from Cas to Dean to Buffy, he had no clue what they were talking about; the being buzzing in the back of his mind might have, but he didn't really want to let that thing take the reins at the moment.

"Who?" Spike asked, his voice a bit higher than he was proud of.

"My brother!" Dean shouted.

"And Willow and Tara, and _Dawn_." Buffy asked, Spike took that moment to look at her, he could see her anger and fear and he felt it too, what had they done with the little bit?

"Buffy! You know I would never do anything to Dawn." Spike said, suddenly pleading for his life, he hated pleading for his life.

"I know _Spike_ wouldn't, but the demon inside of you at this moment I'm not so sure about." Buffy pushed, Spike wondered how they knew about the demon.

"Oh that thing? It's got no hold over me, whatsoever. It's just kind of there. I'm ignoring it." Spike twisted his mouth slightly, trying to calm the situation, he looked at Castiel, "Look, see, I can't even do the black eyes thing." He lied, Castiel stared at him, he looked over the angel's shoulder to where Dean and Buffy were staring at him, Buffy in particular looked a bit more upset.

"Your eyes are currently black." Castiel said, confused as he glanced over his shoulder at the other two who nodded.

"Oh." Spike sighed, "Well I have no idea how I did it, or how to turn them back... So... Forget about that bit."

"It's not that hard, just kind of have to close your eyes and will them away. It gets easier." Dean said, they all stared at him, Castiel in particular was not happy, Dean shrugged, "What?" Spike followed the Winchester's instructions and when he opened them, Buffy sighed slightly, he supposed that meant his eyes were back to normal.

"So they took Dawn?" Spike asked, then he looked to where the angel was still holding him against the wall, "Could you... Stop that? Please?" Cas looked back to Buffy, she nodded and he released Spike who rubbed at his neck for a moment before rolling his shoulders, "Right... So... Dawn's been taken, where?"

They all sighed collectively, "That's what we were trying to ask _you_." Buffy said.

"Oh, yeah... Um... Should I confer with the demon in my head?" Spike asked, she shrugged.

"If you must!" She sighed, exasperated and sat down on the stone coffin, Dean joined her. Castiel continued to stand a bit too close to Spike and stare angrily.

Spike closed his eyes and concentrated on the whispers. It was mostly a mess of jumbled thoughts that he couldn't really decipher. There was a lot of anger and it seemed to be trying to persuade him to forego the mission in order to seek and destroy Crowley. He put that thought aside for later and told the demon that they could very well do that; but they had to find Dawn first.

He could feel the demon's annoyance, it was funny, but Spike was in control, he would not relinquish his body to the bloody thing.

_The Bronze._ It seemed to say finally; he told the group.

"Does everything in this town happen there?" Dean asked after hearing Spike reveal the name of the place where they were all being kept.

"Pretty much." Buffy shrugged, "It's like a hot spot for evil things."

"Well let's get going." Dean said, turning and rushing out of the crypt. Buffy and Castiel followed, Cas had his hand on Spike's arm, forcing him to follow as well. They rushed out the door in time to see Dean on the ground, unconscious.

"Vampire!" Castiel warned, before he could make a move, he'd been hit as well; he hopped up from the ground and was prepared to fight, but Buffy was holding her hand up in his face. She was staring at the taller man who had stopped attacking and was now staring at them. Buffy walked closer to him and Castiel heard Spike scoff audibly next to him.

"Who is that?" Castiel asked Spike, who laughed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it before he replied.

"Buffy's ex, Angel."


	11. Chapter 11

_**Guys, I work too much and I just... Idk... I wrote this chapter and then my computer froze before I had the chance to save it and I got really upset and didn't want to write it again so it took me like an extra week to get over my loss. So here we go!**_

* * *

Immediately upon regaining consciousness, Sam noticed that his head was throbbing and that he was seriously uncomfortable. He is, for lack of a better word, quite large for a human being and it should be illegal to try to squeeze him into small places. But that was exactly what whoever had taken him, and was responsible for what was sure to turn into a migraine later, did.

He was in a cage, or something close resembling one. His hands were bound, but not well; it would be easy for him to escape the bindings. The cage on the other hand wouldn't be so easy. He didn't feign to know how he was going to get out of it. One thing he did know was that he wasn't alone; he could hear breathing, but his eyes hadn't adjusted to the dim lighting just yet and he could barely see his hands in front of his face.

"Hello?!" A voice called out through the darkness, Sam recognized it almost immediately, though it took a few moments for it to register who it was that the voice belonged to.

"Willow!" He replied, he could hear the witch's sigh of relief.

"Sam? That you? Where are we?" He tone was beginning to shift into one of panic, Sam began working on his confines.

"I don't know for sure, we've been taken, are you in a cage?" He asked, hoping that she wasn't, her magic was strong enough to open his own.

"No. Sam... I'm chained to a wall, I can see a door. This place is very dungeon-y." Sam hesitated in his biting at the ropes; _chains_, that couldn't be good.

"Can you use your magic?" He asked and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as he heard Willow begin to struggle and she let out a panicked cry.

"No! I can't! What's happening?"

"It's okay, Wil. You're gonna be okay. It just means they've got you in cold-iron. It neutralizes powers." Sam finally broke through his bindings and immediately began searching for a way out of his too-small jail.

"What do you think they want with us?" Willow asked, her voice tiny. It was probably the first time in a long time that she felt truly helpless, Sam couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow for his new friend.

"I'm not sure," He said with a soft tone in a way to calm her, and then to himself he muttered: "but it can't be good." He could feel the tiny latch on his cage door, there was a lock keeping it shut. It wasn't going to be easy, but he was sure that he could break it open.

He'd almost had it unlocked when Willow shouted his name and he could hear the door of their prison creak. The lock on his cage snapped open and he nearly fell trying to scramble out.

"Oh, there's no need for that, dear." Sam stopped dead in his tracks on his way to Willow's side. He knew that voice. He looked from the scared red head to the smiling one.

"Rowena?" He choked out; she merely smirked and wiggled her fingers before everything went dark.

* * *

Tara strained against her chains, trying to get to a still unconscious Dawn, but she struggled in vain, the shackles wouldn't budge. In fact, if she didn't know better, she'd say they kept getting tighter the more she struggled.

"There's really no need for that, you know." Crowley sat on a throne in front of her, looking rather bored. Tara glared at him, "Oh look at you, very scary, really, I'm trembling with fear."

"Where's Willow!?" She demanded to know, "What have you done with her?" She bit out, her power being forced to settle back within her, the chains around her wrists were not very forgiving and the pain they caused almost made her want to give up.

"I told you! She and Moose got snagged before you woke up! I don't care, you'll do." He sighed and began taking a sip from a newly poured glass of scotch that hadn't been sitting on the table beside him a moment ago. Tara had to do a double take, she rolled her eyes.

"I saw that." Crowley scoffed.

"Where am I?" She snapped back.

"You're in Hell." He smiled, Tara began to feel a bit of panic, "Welcome, is it your first visit?"

"What are you going to do with me?" She began looking all around her for signs of torture devices.

"Awe, now don't be like that. You're going to love it. After lunch I'll give you the full tour." He smirked, "But really, you'll learn all in due time, don't get ahead of yourself."

Tara was about to respond when she felt something cold run down her back and felt a tremble of panic shoot through her. A demon was running a blade down the length of her back. She tried to wiggle away, but her chains only tightened more.

"This is Hans..." Crowley said as she turned to look the demon in the eye, "He'll be your tour guide." He smiled when Tara screamed as the blade pierced her skin.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked as soon as the initial shock of seeing Angel wore off.

"What? Not happy to see me?" Angel replied with a smirk, Buffy rolled her eyes as she heard Spike scoff loudly behind them.

"It's not that... I- wait, you're not all possessed are you?" She took a small step forward and stared hard at him, as though she would be able to tell by his look alone. She then took a step back and assumed a fighting stance, prepared for the worst.

"No! I got one of those anti-possession tattoos, Willow sent me a picture. It's on my back, next to my other piece." Buffy breathed a bit more easily knowing that, but it quickly turned into another eye roll as she heard Dean muttering behind her.

"Did he just say piece?" To which Spike replied in the affirmative and Dean coughed out the word 'douche.'

"Are we twelve!?" Buffy rounded on them and they jumped back slightly, Castiel was still staring at Angel with mistrust.

"I'm sorry." Castiel interrupted, "You said ex, correct?" He looked from Spike to Buffy and Angel, they turned to look at him, "But you're a vampire?"

"Oh but Angelus here is different, he's got himself a soul!" Spike said, taking a hit of his cigarette and blowing the smoke a bit too forcefully up into the air, "Makes him an eligible bachelor to all the young, petite blonde's."

"Shut it, Spike." Angel warned, Spike stood up taller and puffed out his chest a bit. Dean rolled his eyes, not in the mood for a pissing contest.

"Well, you're a vampire with a soul, that means Crowley will definitely be coming for you. So be warned." Castiel said.

"Short guy, British accent, bit of a Napoleon complex?" Angel held his hand at the approximate height of their favorite demon, "Yeah he's already been to see me, something about a regime change and being on the right side, but I had the tattoo by that point and wasn't buying what he was selling. Told him I've already lost my soul and gotten it back a few times and wasn't interested in losing it again. Said he would love to take it and demonize it, that it would do away with my _pesky conscience._" Angel's tone conveyed a lot more than he was saying, Buffy understood.

"You have a soul?" Dean laughed, shaking his head, "That's crazy."

"So?" Angel defended, "What's it to you?"

"It's quite tarnished." Castiel said, stepping in front of Dean as he puffed out his chest at the vampire, the angel wasn't prepared for the hunter to fight this new creature that he knew nothing about, "Murdering for so many years does that to the soul. Tears it apart, bit by bit. Like Voldemort and his horcruxes." He turned to Dean who blanched and rested a hand on Cas' shoulder.

"Man, I really wish Metatron never gave you that pop culture knowledge." He sighed, squeezing his angel's shoulder before letting go.

"I find it helpful when explaining things." Castiel shrugged and half smiled at Dean.

"Yeah, I liked it. It makes sense." Angel butt in.

"So anyways... Not to interrupt the _bonding_..." Spike said, dong exactly that, "But evil plan on the horizon..."

"Right." Buffy refocused, "What else do you know?"

"Not much." Angel stared at Spike with suspicion, "You're connected to the hive mind, aren't you, William?" Spike groaned.

"Yeah, but I can't let them in my head! They'll know I'm not with them!" He sounded like a child throwing a tantrum, Buffy was not amused.

"How do we know that? How do we know they're not listening in right now and you're double crossing us!?" Angel started towards Spike, but Buffy pushed him back.

"We don't need this right now, Angel." She scolded, he drooped slightly, dropping his face to the ground.

"Sorry." He muttered, Buffy looked from him back to Spike, a look of renewed determination on her face.

"Look, if this is Crowley, then maybe you guys know where he took Dawn and the others." She looked to Dean and Castiel, "Is there any place that you know of that he hangs out?"

"Uh... Hell." Dean shrugged, "When I was-" He looked to Cas and then back to the others, "When I was a demon, and we weren't out doing... demon-y stuff... We hung out in his _throne room_ in Hell. It was _hella_ boring in there, I didn't like it." He smiled at his pun, no one seemed to notice, he cleared his throat and shrugged it off.

"When you were a _what?_" Angel replied, turning to Buffy and muttering, "What kind of people are you associating with these days?"

"Thanks for the lecture, _dad._" Angel shuddered, "He's all human now, I think." She frowned and looked back to Dean for a moment who shrugged, "The point is, he knows where we have to go. So thank you for helping, but we don't need it. Go back and defend your home turf. We've got it covered here."

"Are you sure?" Angel asked, still ready for action. Buffy ran a hand over his arm and then grabbed ahold of his hand. She smiled up at him.

"I'm sure." She said softly before squeezing his hand and letting go. Angel watched as she backed up to where the others were standing, "Go." She said and he nodded, turning his back on the group. Buffy immediately whirled around on the others in complete soldier mode.

"Alright guys, we need to formulate a plan. Dean, tell me everything you know about Hell."


	12. Chapter 12

**This one is pretty short, but hey! We're getting to the real plot!**

**Hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

"What I really want to know is: Is it possible for Crowley to move Hell?" Buffy asked, finally cutting off Dean's tales of torture, her brows raised, looking between the hunter and Cas, "Spike's demon says they're at the Bronze, correct?" She looked to Spike who nodded, "But Crowley is most likely to be hanging out in his throne room... So is it possible that his throne of Hell is now at the Bronze?"

"This town _is_ a Hellmouth." Castiel said, "It's quite possible that after the merger, his throne room relocated here."

"So he's been hanging out at the Bronze this whole time? How did we not see that?" Dean rubbed the back of his neck.

"Could be in the basement..." Buffy suggested, pouting slightly.

"What are we waiting for?" Spike asked, ready for action-though what he really wanted was to get the whispering out of his head, he didn't like it.

"Should we-" Buffy looked to him with sorrow in her eyes, "Exorcise him?"

"The demon could prove useful..." Castiel began, but exchanged a look with Dean.

"But it could take over at any moment and then we'd be screwed." Dean finished. Buffy breathed deeply and shuffled slightly where she stood.

"So what do we do?" She asked, the stake on her person began growing heavier with the weight of possibility; she could have to stake Spike at any moment, and what would happen if the demon chose that exact moment to vacate Spike's body? Then he'd turn to dust and she'd be left with nothing but a pile of what might have been.

That thought really messed with her, _what might have been?_ With _Spike_? No, she shook it off, there was nothing at all going on with her and the vampire, the kiss meant nothing. Though it did feel rather good, it wasn't their first after all.

"Uh, Buffy?" Dean asked, waving his hand in front of her face and snapping her out of whatever reverie she was currently in.

"Sorry, huh?" She asked, blinking at the hunter.

"We said that we should set him up in a devil's trap till we return with everyone." Dean repeated the statement that Buffy had missed as she was remembering what Spike's lips felt like against hers.

"Sure." She shrugged, they turned on Spike who scoffed.

"Come on! I could be of help! You might need me more than you'll need him!" He motioned to Dean but instead of agreement like he'd been expecting, he merely incurred more of the angel's wrath. Blue eyes bore into him and next thing he knew he was standing in the middle of a weird looking design as the others left his crypt and slammed the door behind them.

"Bollocks." He groaned.

* * *

Sam awoke to the sounds of Willow shouting, it was clear that she was crying as she said expletives he'd never heard come out of her. He tried to sit up but found that he was strapped down to something and could hardly wriggle around at all.

"You're crazy!" Willow screamed, Rowena laughed.

"Oh dear, you have no idea." She said, Sam strained his neck to see them. Willow was tied to a chair to his left and Rowena was standing in front of her, book in hand.

"What do you want with me?" She asked, "You have enough power to do this yourself."

"I know _I do_." Rowena smiled and blinked her perfectly cat-eyed lids, "But what I don't have, is the potential for darkness that you do."

"What?" Willow blanched, she'd never been told that before in all her time practicing magic, no one had ever told her that she had darkness.

"It's true! Why, there's so much power radiating within you, if you just let it in, you'd be magnificent!" Rowena nearly giggled, Sam scoffed and she looked to him, "Oh look who's awake!"

"Rowena!" Sam shouted and then coughed as he felt a weight pressing against his chest, though he saw nothing on top of him, it must have been a spell.

"It's a hex bag, Sam." Rowena corrected his thought, "You'll be dead within the hour."

"Why make it last that long." He strained.

"I want to hear you suffer." She smiled at him one last time before redirecting her attention back to Willow.

"I won't do it." She muttered, looking sadly at the younger Winchester wishing that she could free him of the spell. Rowena smiled ruefully and pulled her face forward so their eyes met.

"It's cute how you think you have a choice."

* * *

"_Tell me what I want to know and this will all be over_." Crowley shouted at Tara who cried through the pain of being cut _again_. Dawn had woken up and was screaming at them to let her go.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Tara shouted, she couldn't possibly fathom why Crowley would think that she knew what his mother was planning. She didn't even know who his mother was.

"You're a witch, she's a witch. Surely there's some connection that you've all established with one another!" He shouted, huffing as he slammed back onto his throne. The pain finally stopped however as he waved Hans away. Tara sniffled and tried to straighten up, but the pain in her back was too great, "She killed two of my best when she stole Moose and your girlfriend."

"That's not our fault!" Dawn shouted, "She's _your_ mother, _you _control her!"

"Quite the mouth you've got, little one!" Crowley shouted, "Shut it, or you'll be next!" Dawn whimpered and pulled her knees into herself.

"You won't wanna do that." A voice echoed through the room, Crowley stood up, exasperated that his security had once again been breached, "You touch her, I'll kill you slowly."

"Ah, slayer!" Crowley shouted into the room, though Buffy was nowhere to be seen, "Come to join us, I see."

"Really, _Slayer_?" Tara turned, wincing as she did so, to see Buffy burst into the room, holding a demon at knife point. Or a blade. She was holding some sort of long silver blade, "Are you really gonna jump on that bandwagon, now?"

"It's what everyone else shouts, innit?" Crowley raised his brows and laughed, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Oh, y'know, was in the neighborhood, thought-I haven't been to this Hell yet, might as well take a look. And what do you know? I found a Jonathan!" She pressed the blade deeper into the demon's throat, "He _was_ the one you sent to scare us, wasn't he? The one you sent to tell us that you had my sister."

"And he's an imbecile." Crowley sighed, standing from his throne, "Why isn't he just smoking out?"

"Cas taught me this really cool sigil, binds the demon to the vessel. No hope of smoking out."

"Do you think I care about him?" Crowley asked, "Honestly, you could kill him right now, and I wouldn't care. As a matter of fact..." He stepped forward and before Buffy could react he thrust a blade of his own through Jonathan's heart, she stumbled back from the flickering body, blade turned, ready for a fight.

"You took my sister and my friends." She looked around the room and her eyes landed on Tara's bloody back and she sucked in a breath, her rage growing inside of her; she was going to kick Crowley's ass.

"Where's Sam?" Dean and Castiel had finally made it into the room, their blades stained with the blood of demons that were unfortunate enough to get in their way.

"Not here." Crowley growled, not looking away from Buffy, he knew if there was to be a fight, she would be the one to watch, in fact, he was looking forward to fighting the slayer.

"What do you mean, not here?" Dean demanded, heading for Dawn to untie her.

"I mean, my mother has the book of the damned, so she's running amok and screwing up my kingdom!" The king of hell shouted suddenly and Dean stopped in his tracks, remembering Rowena and the damn book, which reminded him of Charlie, which pissed him off all over again.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"Why do you think I've been trying to possess as many vampires as I can, hmm?" Crowley asked, "She's been winning over all the defectors left over from Abaddon, they're trying to revolt."

"Against Hell?" Buffy asked, confused.

"No." Crowley sighed, "Against me."


	13. Chapter 13

**HOWDY Y'ALL! Here's a new chapter, for funsies! TELL ME WHATCHUTHINKKKKKK! I have social issues...**

* * *

How he ended up beneath her shoe, he wasn't quite sure. He only knew that the pressure she was applying to his neck was making him want to smoke out, get into a different vessel, pop back and kick her ass. Though there was no way of knowing whether or not he'd just end up right back where he started, beneath the crushing weight of her stylish yet affordable boots.

"Buffy-" Castiel said, turning the slayers attention to the angel and she finally let up the pressure on Crowley's neck, "We don't have time for this, we must find Rowena before she does something horrible. She has the book of the damned, who knows what she could do with it."

"What is that thing, anyway?" Buffy asked, backing off of the King of Hell and he was finally able to stand, brushing off his suit jacket, tightening his tie and rubbing the red mark on his neck.

"It's a very powerful book." Dean said, "It removed the mark of Cain from my arm-"

"And I get no thanks for finding the ingredients." Crowley said softly, he found the full use of his voice a bit bothersome at the moment, it'd heal shortly; then he would yell at that annoying little slice of blonde pie for hurting him in the first place.

"Shut up!" Castiel and Dean said at the same time, it was so cute how in sync they were. Come to think of it, Crowley had a lot of souls to collect from a demon henchman of his with whom he'd made a bet about the angel and the hunter getting together.

"Where would she be, Crowley?" Dean asked, "Where would she have taken Sam?"

"How should I know?" He defended, Dean eyed him angrily, even though he no longer had the Mark, he still had the look.

"Uh, gee, I don't know... Maybe because she's _your mother_!?" Dean replied, his tone was beginning to piss off Hell's royalty.

"You know better than anyone here my history with my mother!" Crowley shouted back at his former BFF. Buffy's brow furrowed and she stared at Dean in confusion. Dean sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, he was defeated. Crowley smirked.

"Alright fine..." He said, Crowley knew what was coming next, "Look, we can do a locator spell... Or something. We still have Tara."

"I'm not sure she's in any kind of shape to be-"

"I-I'll do it." Tara cut Buffy off, but struggled against her restraints, "As soon as someone unties me."

"Oh!" Buffy exclaimed, running up to her friend and freeing her from the chair she was tied to. She rolled her shoulders, winced, and began to stand up. Crowley didn't feel bad, per se, he just knew that he'd be paying for hurting the witch sooner rather than later. That payment came in the form of a sharp, piercing pain bursting within him. Without knowing the source, he couldn't stop it, but he figured it was coming from Tara.

Crowley couldn't help himself, he screamed in agony and everyone in the room got really confused.

"Tara?" Dawn asked, the King had forgotten the littlest Summers girl was still there, "Are you doing that?" Through the haze the spell had created, he saw the small brunette walk up to the taller blonde and embrace her; the pain immediately ceased. He could hear Dawn whispering to her that it was okay, that she was okay.

He chalked it up to the fact that every witch had inner darkness and called it a day. He disappeared before anyone else had a chance to hurt him. He'd pop back in once he had his whits about him again.

"Dammit Crowley!" Dean shouted into the now empty space that the king had occupied only seconds before.

"Where'd he go?" Buffy asked, looking around.

"Probably to a safe house. Somewhere we can't get to him." Castiel replied; Buffy stared at Dean and Cas and wondered briefly how they both knew so much about Crowley. When did they all get a chance to bond? Questions for another time, at this moment, she had to console Tara.

She walked up to her friend, who was still being soothed by her little sister and rested a hand on her shoulder, smiling slightly in an attempt to comfort her. She returned the smile, albeit weakly, but it was there.

"Hey." She said, "You okay?"

"I'll be fine." Tara sucked in a breath to steady herself, "Once we find Willow and Sam."

"How are we going to do that?" Castiel asked, clearly racking his brain, trying to come up with a spell they could use.

"Willow and I always know how to find each other, but-" Tara sighed, "I"m not sure if it would work to lead us to her if she's in irons."

"So lead us to Rowena." Dean interjected, they looked at him, he shrugged, "She wouldn't clap herself in irons, she likes to be the most powerful bitch in the room."

"It's true." Castiel confirmed, they all exchanged a look and collectively shrugged; it was worth a shot.

* * *

Breathing was exceedingly difficult for Sam, every time he breathed in he felt like he might collapse under the weight. His throat was raw, he'd coughed up blood more than once. It was like he had undergone the trials again, all in one evening. He was trying to force himself to stay conscious, he knew the moment he allowed the blackness that was threatening to invade his vision take over, he'd be done. He wouldn't give up, not yet.

There was a spell forcing him to stay down, he'd discovered that much when he realized he couldn't actually _feel_ anything keeping him there. No ropes, no harness, just a magical weight pressed down on him. If he could distract Rowena long enough to get her to do away with the spell, then he could move, if he could move, he could find the hex bag.

It was either that, or Willow would have to somehow escape her chains. Rowena had to let her out eventually to do the spell.

Currently, Willow was staring at him with horror in her eyes. Her tears had dried about ten minutes ago and her teeth were gritted. She looked like she might be in shock. He must look horrible, because he was sure she'd seen things in her time and if the sight of him made her look _like that_... Well it wasn't good.

"Alright everyone!" Rowena burst into the room, smiling widely, "Oh, Sam, poor thing. You don't look so good."

"_Screw-" _He tried to finish his insult, but it ended in a bloody coughing fit and he was gasping for air by the end of it. She merely blinked at him and then turned her back on him, staring at Willow.

"Okay, dear, time to show me what you've got!" The chains around Willow's wrists were suddenly gone and she immediately got to her feet and made an attempt to run towards Sam. He appreciated the sentiment, but he knew the moment she started that she wouldn't make it. She was suddenly flying back into the wall; from the looks of it, she hit it pretty hard and cried out in slight pain.

"Ah, ah!" Rowena scolded, "Don't try to help or I'll kill him sooner!"

Sam was almost hoping for that, the pain in his chest was becoming so intense that he almost couldn't stand it. Almost. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as having Lucifer in his head for months.

This was just a really bad evening. Nothing new, nothing different. Just a day in the life of Sam friggin Winchester. Had he the breath, he would have laughed about how extremely strange and complicated his life was.

"The spell we're going to perform is quite complicated, so I want you to pay attention!" Rowena said to Willow, holding the open book out in front of her, "It requires the blood of a lesser witch, so that's you, I'm afraid. But don't worry, you're not going to die, yet." She turned to Sam and smirked, "We're saving that for you."

"I won't utter a single word of your spell!" Willow spat, Rowena sighed.

"If you don't, I'll find your girlfriend and kill her slowly in front of you until you cooperate!" She drove a hard bargain, Sam saw Willow's resolve practically crumble in front of him.

"What do I have to do?" She asked, he didn't need to see the Queen Mother's face to know the look she had.

"It's simple, just a few simple lines, that'll be that."

"What will it do?" Willow croaked, Rowena laughed softly.

"What won't it do?" She breathed, "If all goes well enough, I'll be an all powerful God by the end of it. Better than _the_ God, in fact."

Sam's vision began to go dark as Rowena began setting up the ingredients for the spell all around them. He thought he heard Willow howl in pain as Rowena cut her with a blade before the blackness that he'd kept at bay finally managed to overtake his vision. His head fell back with a thump.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a bright light.


	14. Chapter 14

**A short one, cause why not! Sorry for the angst!**

* * *

There were very few times in his life when Dean was scared. He would like to say that now was not one of those times, that he was strong and secure and knew that they would find Sam safe and sound. That Rowena hadn't done anything to him yet, that she'd been busy monologuing while they rushed to save him.

But there was this feeling overtaking him at the moment, it was something akin to dread and he wasn't exactly sure where it was coming from. He didn't want to say anything to anyone, though he was sure Cas felt it too because the angel's hand had found his own and as they were running, they were running hand in hand. It may have been stupid, but it was grounding him, anchoring him to the earth. Stopping him from floating away.

Dean followed the light closely, Cas beside him, Buffy, Tara, Dawn and _Crowley_ were right on his tale. The light may have been leading them to Rowena, but as far as he was concerned, it was leading them to his brother, to Sammy. He had to be okay.

There were no demon's guarding the exterior of the building the light led them to, that should have been the first sign. The second sign should have been the lack of demon's guarding the _interior_. But Dean wasn't thinking, all he could think about was his brother. All anyone could think about were their friends and loved ones possibly getting tortured by a demented witch who liked to place dangerous attack dog spells on people and creatures. Dean shuddered at the memory of Castiel with bloody red eyes.

They turned a few corners when they heard her voice, chanting. They broke into a sprint.

Buffy kicked open the door, she was good for stuff like that, Dean decided. Though so was Cas.

The angel in question wasted no time slamming Rowena up against the wall, placing his hand over her mouth so she could no longer speak. She smiled beneath his grip, mumbling beneath the pressure.

"What's she saying?" Buffy asked, frowning as she helped Willow break free of her chains.

"You're too late." Willow said sadly, breathing heavily, Tara was clutching to her side in an instant, placing soft kisses into her hair.

Dean could feel that same sense of something in the pit of his stomach as he glanced around the room, looking for his brother tied up.

"Dean-" He was expecting to hear Sam's ragged voice, but he heard Crowley's.

Crowley's voice was a warning, it was soft, softer than it should have been. It was filled with something that Dean couldn't quite place and as he turned around to see his brother lying motionless on a table, he realized it was sorrow. He wasn't sorry that Sam was dead necessarily, he was just sorry that a person he'd probably regarded as a best friend was looking at his dead brother _again_. Dean understood the sentiment, it didn't mean he was thankful for it. He rushed across the room to his brother's side.

"Sammy!" He choked out, looking back over his shoulder to Castiel who was relinquishing his grip on the witch. He moved out of the way in time to watch Buffy punch her, Castiel was at his side in an instant, touching two fingers to Sam's head.

"Dean..." Castiel muttered, his hands finding a place on either side of Dean's shoulders, "He's gone."

"No." Dean shook his head, refusing to believe the evidence that was right before his eyes, "Nope." He sniffed hard, refusing to let the tears spill over, he looked at Castiel who was staring at him with such sadness, it was enough to ruin his resolve, he collapsed into Cas' arms.

On the other side of the room, Buffy was still hitting the redheaded bitch who'd had the audacity to kidnap her best friend when she suddenly found herself unable to move. She was being pushed back, suspended, held up in the air. Unable to do much else, she shouted, looking around. Crowley was stuck in place, Dawn, Tara and Willow were huddled together. In the middle of it all was the bloody mess that was Rowena, and she was laughing.

"Welcome, all!" She shouted, raising her hands into the air as if she were a musical conductor and all those around her were her symphony. Buffy scoffed, she hated the arrogant ones; though when _wasn't_ a being that was trying to take over the world arrogant?

"What do you want?" Buffy asked, highly unamused. Rowena's smile faltered slightly seeing that Buffy wasn't afraid of her.

"Everything." She grinned, "Originally I just wanted to make my own coven, I thought Willow and Tara would be perfect for that, but I see they're not interested in a triad."

"You will pay for this!" Dean shouted from across the room, Castiel seemed to be holding him back.

"I don't think so, Dean." Rowena shook her head, lifting a finger, suddenly Dean was thrown from Castiel's grasp. The angel's face was filled with fury and rage, before Rowena had a chance to do something to him, he'd disappeared.

* * *

Grass, he felt grass. How could he feel grass? He was on a stone slab or something hard and cold like one last time he checked. He'd been suffocating, but now the pressure was gone, so was the urge to scream. The urge to run had been lifted as well; he felt content, safe. He knew he couldn't be in the same place, maybe Dean made it, maybe they'd rescued him. Maybe he was back at the bunker.

There was no grass inside the bunker. And he was definitely feeling blades of that beneath his fingertips. He was gripping at patches, pulling them from the dirt just to hear the ripping. Then another sound interrupted that;

_When I find myself in times of trouble,  
__Mother Mary comes to me,  
__Speaking words of wisdom,  
__Let it be_-

Sam's eyelids fluttered open to the sound of music. The tune filled him and stirs him, forcing him to look around. It wasn't the melodic sounds of the Beatles that made him stare forward, but the person singing the words. The guy before him, guitar in hand, eyes squeezed shut, lips moving, sounds coming out.

Sam briefly wondered if there'd been another musical demon. But then he realized where he was. His own personal heaven. Or one of them, he never actually got to see his.

He was in his memory of the fourth of July, the younger versions of himself and Dean were off to the side, shooting fireworks into the air. He was sitting on the ground in front of the Impala. Chuck was sitting on the hood, a guitar in his hands, singing Let It Be.

"Chuck?" He asked, Chuck's eyes opened and looked into his and he knew immediately this wasn't Chuck, was it ever?

"Good to see you, Sam. Welcome to Heaven." His smile: so kind and so welcoming that Sam was almost happy to be there, until he remembered how he died and what was happening whilst he was doing so. The memory was enough to force him to jump to his feet with worry.

"Chuck!" He shouted, "Rowena! She's turning herself into a God!"

"Don't worry about that, Sam, nothing can hurt you here." He began to strum the opening chords of Blackbird, Sam stepped forward and ripped the instrument from his hands, "Hey! I was playing that!"

"Sorry, but we don't have time to sing kumbaya. We have to stop her!" His hand gripped the neck of the guitar when suddenly, it wasn't gripping anything, the guitar was back in Chuck's hands, he was playing Blackbird again.

"Worry not, Sam." His voice was a bit more stern, it halted Sam's retort in his throat, he swallowed it back down, slightly scared of this man before him-or perhaps he wasn't a man at all, "My children will stop her."

"Your _children_?" Sam spat out, laughing to himself as he tried to wrap his head around what this dead prophet was trying to say.

"Well, _child_ technically. Though you are all my children. The angels are the only ones who really consider me daddy dearest." He began singing again as Sam stared at him incredulously.

_All your life, you were only waiting, for this moment to arrive-_

* * *

**_Cause who doesn't love Rob Benedict singing... [=_**


	15. Chapter 15

***I changed something in the last chapter... i realized that I left Spike in a devil's trap a few chapters back, so he clearly wouldn't be with them in the warehouse, silly me. this is the issue when I sporadically update this fic... My mistake, plot holes and such, whatevs, NOBODY SAIIID IT WAS EEEAAASSSSYYYYY... (sorry, that was random.) So there's no Spike, not here, he's toughing it out in his devil's trap.**

**ALSO! I'm slowly dying of bronchitis, OMFG, I cannot breathe... But despite the incessant coughing... Here's a chapter, because it was my 24th birthday (on the 24th, heh) and I want to celebrate, YAY!**

* * *

Castiel was unaware of how he ended up at the bunker, but he used his new found location to his advantage and began tearing through book after book on rituals and magic. He was hoping to find something, _something_ that could stop Rowena, drain her of the power she'd just accumulated.

A book flew from a shelf across the room and Cas turned to it; he stared at it in confusion for a few brief seconds before shrugging it off and reading what it had been opened to. It was exactly what he needed, a way to reverse the effects of Rowena's ritual.

"Sam?" Castiel called out into the emptiness of the bunker. It was just a guess, but he knew the book hadn't crawled out of its resting place on its own. If the younger Winchester truly was dead, his spirit _could_ possibly be tied with the building he'd called home for the past few years.

There was no response, the name just echoed through the cavernous halls. So _not Sam_, then. Who? Or what, could have set him on the right path. He almost contemplated the possibilities until he remembered the reason he needed the book in the first place, he had a witch to stop.

He couldn't stretch his wings inside the bunker, how he got in was a mystery, but he knew he wouldn't be able to get out. He rushed from the library into the main foyer and up the stairs. As he pushed through the front door and out into the crisp night air, something hit him, he wasn't Kansas at all. It wasn't night, either. It should have been, though. California was behind Kansas in time and it was night there. Surely he hadn't been gone so long.

Though his surroundings were familiar, his favorite spot in Heaven, the eternal Tuesday afternoon.

"Cas?" A familiar voice called out to him and he turned, _Sam_. Castiel smiled and rushed to his friends side; they didn't embrace, instead Cas reached out and pushed at the taller mans' shoulders, testing to see if he was real.

"Sam." Castiel said after determining the hunter was really there, "Why-how are we here?"

"Uh, that's a good question, Cas." Sam replied, huffing an awkward laugh, scratching at his neck, "I'm not sure you wanna know."

"Of course I want to know, that's why I asked." Castiel replied, confused. His hand gripped tight at the book it held and he began to look around them, "You're dead." He said, as he searched for the reason behind his sudden return to Heaven.

"Yeah, I am." Sam nodded solemnly, "And you'll never guess who I met."

"Abraham Lincoln?" Castiel asked, staring at the Winchester, whose brow furrowed, "James Dean?"

"I said you'll never guess, so stop trying."

"Sorry." Cas apologized, though he kept going through other options in his mind, Sam's mouth twitched up into a smile.

"Your father." He said, Castiel stared up at his friend in disbelief, feeling as though he'd had the wind knocked out of him, which was saying a lot, considering he didn't even need to breathe. It made his searching around them become all the more frantic. He looked every which way, even up into the sky, but he couldn't see another person anywhere.

Then he felt it, the presence at his back, the warmth and serenity that it generated. It felt right, it felt calm, it felt like home. He turned to lay eyes upon his father for the first time since his creation, but was dumbstruck at _who_ he saw standing before him.

"Cas?" Sam asked as the angel turned and stared at the man before him, "You ok?" He was unmoving, unresponsive. Sam couldn't know that Castiel was now replaying every moment he'd ever interacted with this man over and over again in his mind, searching for _something_. Some sort of sign that would tell him that he'd known all along. He'd known that Chuck was his father's vessel. Perhaps his father was lying dormant in the prophet's mind all along.

After all, weren't all prophets the vessels of the lord? Castiel shook that off, that couldn't be right, vessels were all about blood lines. There was no way that Chuck and Kevin were a part of the same family.

"It's a bit different with me." Chuck, no not Chuck, _God_, his father, replied, smiling slightly, "Technically, I can occupy any vessel I want, I created them all... Though I do _hate_ that word... Vessel."

"What would you have us call them?" Castiel asked, finally finding the ability to speak again; he had so many questions he wanted to ask, but that was the first that came out.

"What they are, bodies." Chuck shrugged, "I'd be more than happy to explain it to you, Cas. Explain how we all have our one specific body, sure there are _vessels_ along the way, but when we find our true form, it's the one we stick with. Gabriel found his, as did Balthazar, and I found mine, just as you found yours."

"Why not just give us human forms, then?" Castiel pushed the subject, Chuck sighed.

"How else were you supposed to learn?" He asked, "I'm all about learning lessons, haven't you realized that by now?" He smiled mischievously but before either of them could respond, Chuck held up his hands, "Let's focus on the task at hand-"

"How am I supposed to do that when I've finally found you?" Cas saw Sam raise his brows from the corner of his eye, it was obvious the hunter was surprised at the tone Castiel was taking with his father.

Chuck only smiled, "You will see me again, after this. I'm done hiding out. The sudden appearance of... _Buffy's_ world, as you guys have begun calling it... Was completely unexpected. Their universe was remarkably without faith. There were no angels, no heaven, no _me._ I have a lot of work to do."

"What sort of work? Will you be requiring my help?"

"We'll talk about that _later_." Chuck said, slightly irritated, "For now, let's stop Rowena from destroying everything, shall we?"

* * *

"Now where did that angel go?" Rowena asked, cheerfully, looking all around, "Did he run away?" She tutted as she knelt down in front of Dean.

"He'll be back." The hunter said, determined, trying his hardest not to show the fear that he felt when Cas disappeared.

"Sure he will." She laughed, "He'll come back to find your dead bodies."

"Try me, bitch." Willow was standing now, her hair was whipping around her face, her eyes had grown almost fully black; she resembled a demon and Dean was momentarily frightened of her. Rowena only laughed more, she seemed to be extremely pleased.

"Good!" She shouted, "You're tapping into that raw power. Keep doing it, dear."

A bolt of something resembling lightning suddenly flew from Willow's hovering form and crashed into Rowena. She fell to her knees as it worked its power through her, but it didn't seem to drain her, in fact it seemed to power her more and when she stood, she sent a beam of energy twice as lethal looking at the other witch, who screamed when it hit her.

Willow sagged to the floor, Tara wrapped her arms around her, pulling her in close and Dawn rested a hand on her arm.

"Now if there won't be any more _interruptions_, I'd like to begin phase 2 of my plan."

"As soon as I'm out of this, whatever this is you're doing to me, I'm gonna kick your ass _so hard_." Buffy struggled against the force that was holding her in place.

"Believe me, love, it'll do you no good." Crowley sighed, clearly having dealt with Rowena's movement restricting spells before.

"Anyway, before I was _rudely_ interrupted, I'd like to begin phase 2." Rowena rolled her eyes and opened the book again, "Now where was I? Oh yes, I was about to draw all the power of the earth to me." She cleared her throat and was about to start reading when a sudden flap of wings echoed through the room.

Dean looked around hopefully, waiting for Cas to announce himself and start kicking ass. He didn't do any of that, instead he threw a liquid concoction of some sort at Rowena and it broke. Everyone waited, expecting it to start smoking and make her melt, but nothing happened. Before anyone could talk, however, Castiel raised a book of his own and began reading.

"_prohibere__ in __potestatem_-" He looked up from the book, slightly unsure, before he kept reading, "_durum offendit atque nullum ulterius... meminerat_." He read the last word and then looked at Rowena hopefully. She stared at him, unmoving, entertained.

"Is that all?" Clearly she'd been expecting a bigger response as well. She moved to step forward, crushing the broken glass beneath her shoe, and that's when he saw it. You'd have had to have been where Dean was at the time, on the ground, her legs in his direct eyesight. When she stepped on the shard of glass, he saw the faint glow come from the liquid and when she took another step forward, he saw the liquid begin to become a bit more dense than it had been.

She tried to step again, but her foot was caught and she looked down, trying to force her foot from the now glowing puddle around her.

"What magic is this!?" She demanded to know, Castiel said nothing and continued to stare and wait for his spell to take full effect. Though he didn't know what the spell actually did, he was sure it would get rid of her once and for all.

"It's beyond your comprehension." Castiel replied simply, he could see the rage building behind her eyes and she thrust out a hand, as if to cast a spell on him, but nothing happened. For a moment Cas was afraid he'd be sent into attack dog mode again, but he was free of it. There was nothing happening, she flicked her hand a few more times, the rage slowly turning into panic. She still couldn't move.

Dean watched as the liquid slowly climbed up her legs, his eyes widened as he saw that it was turning her skin to stone. He groaned as he tried to push himself away from the scene before him. Sensing his discomfort, Castiel was at his side, pulling him away from it.

Rowena's arm fell to her side as she bent down and tried to remove her now stone feet from the area around her, but nothing worked, it instead spread to her hands faster and she stood, screaming as the spell covered her completely, turning her into a statue where she stood.

They all stood in silence, staring at what once was a crazy and powerful witch, the book in her hands had been effected by the spell as well and Buffy was the first to walk up to her and knock against her head. It was solid rock and the slayer huffed a laugh.

"Huh, cool." She said, touching the now stone spell book, "Guess we don't have to worry about anyone using that anymore." She shrugged and turned back to the rest of the people in the room who were still staring at Rowena, mouths agape. Crowley snapped out of it and suddenly strolled up to her.

"I think I'll take this off your hands." He smirked at his mother, "She'll be a wonderful conversation piece, don't you think?" Then they were gone; the room was a bit more empty than it had been before. Buffy rushed to Dawn's side and began checking for injury, but was relieved to find none.

Castiel helped Dean to his feet and they looked around, all else was forgotten when they looked to the stone slab where Sam's body had been when this ordeal started. It was gone.

"What the hell?" Dean shouted, rushing to the empty space, "Where'd he go!" He kicked the slab and immediately regretted it, Castiel walked up to him and laid a hand on his cheek, the throbbing in his foot vanished.

"You should be more careful." Cas scolded him, Dean brushed off his hand and rolled his eyes.

"I'll be more careful when I find my brother, what could have happened to him?"

"Maybe Crowley took him to do weird demon stuff?" Buffy suggested, joining the two men.

"Nah, he did that with me already, wouldn't wanna do it with Sam." Dean rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, defeated. He couldn't possibly figure out what happened to Sam, and it's not like it mattered, he was gone, "Where the hell did you disappear to, by the way?" He turned on the angel who shuffled uncomfortably.

"I was pulled to Heaven-"

"Not another Naomi situation-"

"No, Dean. Not like that." Cas sighed, "It was, my father."

"Huh?" Buffy and Dean asked simultaneously.

* * *

**Fun fact... The Latin... It legit says, "Stop the power" hahahah.. Also, the rest of it...I pulled it from the Hobbit translated into latin (Cause they translated the WHOLE book into latin, for some reason...) and it's just words from Misty Mountains Cold. YAY! LATIN!**


	16. Chapter 16

**_Hey! I'm the worst updater in the WORLD, I swear. Omg... Don't hate me. _**

**_Working two jobs is super stressful, guess who's contemplating joining the Air Force, THIS GIRL RIGHT HERE. Agh. The struggle is real, the need for money is real... Sigh. _**

**_That being said, enjoy!_**

* * *

"Sam was in Heaven..." Dean asked, trying to comprehend what Castiel had just told him, "With your father... Who is also Chuck?"

"Yes..." Castiel said, still slightly disbelieving himself.

"Chuck is some prophet guy who wrote those weird books about all of you, right?" Buffy asked.

"There were very graphic sex scenes." Dawn commented, Buffy's eyes widened and she turned to her sister who ducked her head and turned back to where Willow was still slumped against Tara.

"Ew." Buffy visibly shuddered.

"Guys, not to interrupt, but I think we should get Willow back home." Tara said and they all three looked at her then and nodded in agreement, Castiel stepped to the witches' sides and they were gone in an instant, leaving Dean, Buffy, and Dawn on their own.

"Good thing we drove." Dean shrugged and they left the warehouse where Rowena had been hiding out.

"You don't think he's gonna do anything funny with that statue, do you?" Dawn asked, Buffy laughed but didn't respond, her own face contorted briefly.

"Nah, he may be a demon, but it's his mother. He's going to put her on display in his throne room and tell everyone that _he _did that to her. Should strike fear in the hearts of his idiot subjects for a day or so." Dean smiled as he climbed into the Impala, but the smile was short lived, he couldn't help thinking about his brother, especially when in the car.

As if sensing this unease in the hunter, Buffy reached out and squeezed his hand in her own lightly, a reassuring gesture. He looked at her and half shrugged, meeting her semi-smile with a sad one of his own before he started the car and drove away from the place where he'd been unable to save Sam.

"You know, when my mom died-" Buffy began, checking the rearview to see if Dawn had an adverse reaction to those words. She shifted in her seat and hugged her arms tighter across her chest, but didn't say anything, "I came up in hundreds of scenarios in my head about how I could have saved her. If I'd just gotten home a bit earlier, if I had been better at CPR, if I hadn't left the house at all that day... It was awful." She glanced sideways at Dean whose hands were clenched around the steering wheel, his knuckles white, "They trained me to be a savior, I spent all this time fighting forces that were in my control; they never taught me how to handle the ones that were beyond it."

"I appreciate the sentiment, I do..." Dean cleared his throat and huffed, "But he was killed by a witch that should have been dealt with a long time ago... I'm afraid this was completely in my control, and I failed."

"Dean-" She reached a hand out to touch his shoulder but he shrugged her off and grunted, the conversation was over. She checked once to make sure he wasn't crying, but it was clear that he hadn't reached the grieving portion just yet, he was still fueled by rage.

"Um... The light's not too bright just yet... Can we go let Spike out?" Buffy asked after the silence had become too deafening for her to endure it any longer.

"Let him out of what?" Dawn asked, neither one answered; Dean, however, made a sudden right turn and was headed for the vampire demon's crypt.

They barged into the crypt without saying a word. Spike was sitting on the floor, his legs crossed over one another in a pose that could only mean meditation or extreme discomfort. Whatever deep state he'd been in was disrupted by the noise and he looked up, his black eyes locking with Buffy's. Dawn yelped a bit and hid behind her sister until he blinked them away. Dean didn't say a word to him, he took out his gun and cocked the hammer, "Woah, wait, what are you doin?" Spike was suddenly up on his feet, his hands held out in front of him to shield him from any harm.

"Calm down, it won't hurt you." Dean scoffed.

"It'll still hurt." Spike blinked, Dean sighed and made a point of aiming the gun dramatically at the ceiling. He shot a hole into the trap and Spike was immediately able to get out of it, "Oh, that's... Nifty." He sniffed as he stared up at the broken trap.

"No, you can't shoot it yourself to get free." Dean sighed as he turned his back on the peroxide abusing creature of the night and made his way out of the crypt. They all followed and Spike was muttering something about nothing making sense in the Winchester's universe.

* * *

Castiel's fingers had seemingly no effect on the unconscious witch. Tara sat by their bed and held onto Willow's hand, occasionally placing a light kiss on the soft skin there.

"I don't understand-" Castiel grunted, frustrated, "I should be able to heal her!"

"Maybe Rowena did something?" Tara suggested, running a hand over Willow's forehead and then down through her red locks, "Woah!" She jumped back, pulling her hand from where it just was. Castiel stared at it, incredulous.

"Impossible." He muttered just as the front door of the house slammed shut and there were voices in the foyer.

"Cas!?" Dean shouted.

"We're in here!" He replied, though he knew he could just pop downstairs to tell them where they were, he enjoyed the domestic feeling of shouting through a house to communicate something simple.

Castiel heard Tara stifle a noise behind him and he turned, she was looking at him with a sort of expression he wasn't familiar with, "What?" He asked, his head tilted in it's old fashion.

"Nothing, it's just... You seem so... When you did that I mean, and the look on your face, the pure joy you got out of it... It was very_ human_." Tara sighed and then went back to paying attention to her girlfriend.

"I was human once." Castiel said and couldn't help the grin that broke onto his face when he saw Dean come up the stairs, the gang in tow. They'd obviously met up with Anya and Xander in front of the house, and they'd stopped to retrieve Spike, which was interesting to the angel. He still didn't quite know what to make of his true face. There were two there, the one of the vampire and the one of the demon, they'd morphed into one extremely unpleasant being to look at. Castiel was glad he was the only one who could see it.

"I'm just sayin, the Rudy hobbit gets the best speech Tower's, hands down, it's the best speech in any of the movies." Dean said to Xander, Castiel was thankful for the knowledge Metatron had given to him, or he wouldn't have understood what their conversation was about.

"You're saying his speech about stories is better than Aragorn's motivational speech in Return?" Xander asked, obviously offended. Dean shrugged and tilted his head, smiling. Xander looked extremely affronted, though he had a hint of a smile on his face, until he looked at Willow, "Woah, what the hell?"

Castiel looked back at the unconscious witch to find that the few strands that had changed before had now turned into a sizable chunk. On one side of her head, her hair was slipping from a fiery red into a deep black.

* * *

_**It's short, I know! I'm so sorry! But hey! CLIFFHANGERS AND STUFF! YAY!**_


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm sorry, I'm the LITERAL worst. Between working two jobs, and being sick, and being depressed (which REALLY hinders creativity), I'm just the worst. But hey! I've found a muse and I'm using it. So here's a chapter, HUZZAH!**

**I've kinda just taken off running with things, enjooooyyyyyyyy**

* * *

The field around her was filled with daisies. It was a bright sunny day, everything was tinted yellow. She sat on a blanket, it was the usual cliche: red and white checkered. There was an open picnic basket, filled with all the things she loved. A soft breeze made its way through her hair, she felt happy and whole. She breathed in and looked up at the pale blue sky, there were a few clouds, just enough to make the light less harsh.

"More tea?" A voice said, she turned and smiled; the sight before her was one of pure beauty, more beautiful than the day around her.

"Tara, baby." Willow said, leaning over and kissing her girlfriend on the cheek.

"I'm glad you finally joined me." Tara said, grinning, offering a pitcher of iced tea, "More?"

"Please." She replied, holding up her empty glass, there was a lemon wheel around the rim, she wasn't quite sure where it came from, "Where are we again?"

"Just outside of Aveyron, France... You've always wanted to come here." Tara's smile was small and soft. Willow glanced around her again, the warm sunlight on her face felt lovely, but it also felt wrong, somehow. Colder than it should have been, she closed her eyes and tilted her face up against it, hoping that changing the angle would right that wrong.

"When did we arrive?" She asked, her voice suddenly cracking from dehydration, she took a sip of her tea.

"We've been here for a while, now." Tara said, her voice was sad. Willow opened her eyes to look at her girlfriend, she was crying. She reached out and swiped her thumb across her cheek, ridding her lover of those pesky drops of water, they had no right being on her beautiful face.

"Have we?" Willow asked, every time she spoke her throat grew more dry. Her tea didn't seem to be helping at all, she wondered if they'd thought to bring any water with them, and if they didn't, surely the river water wasn't all that bad to drink. She began to stand, to go to the banks to get a drink.

"You're not supposed to be here, Wil." Tara said, her voice suddenly wrought with caution, not allowing the redhead to get up to search for water to ease her aching throat.

"Where should I be?"

"You need to wake up."

"I'm not sleeping." She tried to pull her hand from Tara's, but she wouldn't relent her grip.

"You are." Tara said softly, "And right now, something is taking over your body, a darkness."

"Huh? Why, how?" Willow's mouth was turning into a grimace as her body burned for water, but she had none to drink.

"We're not sure. It just started happening." Tara was sounding more and more desperate.

"How long have I been sleeping?" Willow asked.

"You're-" She stopped for a moment and looked around, something must have disturbed her outside of the dream realm, "Your body, it's-" She disappeared. Willow stood quickly, turning about, trying to find her again, but she'd gone from the field. The field that was slowly starting to deteriorate around her.

"What the?" She said aloud to no one in particular, she was in her own head, she was truly alone. Or so she thought. She heard footsteps approaching her, from somewhere, and she began the frantic search for the source of those steps. She moved forward, but ran smack dab into bars of some sort; it turned out that she ended up in something resembling a prison cell, leave it to her to invent a prison in her own mind.

"You didn't invent it." The voice said, she turned in an effort to find its speaker, "I did."

"Who are you?" She called out into the darkness.

"That's not important." They replied, and suddenly there was enough light, and Willow could see the outline of a humanoid shape, "The important question is what do I want?"

"Alright-" Willow shrugged, she didn't say anything else for a few beats, the shape stayed still and said nothing else. Willow groaned and rolled her eyes, dramatic monsters were the worst kind, "What do you want?"

"That's simple," It replied, "Your power."

* * *

Tara fell out of her trance and flew back against the pillows that surrounded her. She gasped for air as she opened her eyes, blinking against the light from the sun that had funneled in through the curtains. When she began her quest into Willow's mind, it was the middle of the night, she'd successfully spent hours inside her spell.

"What were you doing?" Castiel stepped into the light, blocking her view of the sun; she blinked a few times to clear her vision and looked up at him.

"I was trying to reach Willow." She said, as if it should have been obvious.

"I already tried, many times." Castiel sighed. Tara rolled her eyes and stood up, walking past her empty bed and out of the bedroom, down the hall, down the stairs, and to the kitchen where everyone else had convened for the day. Castiel followed her, still set on talking.

"And I told you, that I can reach her better than you." Tara argued, pulling a box of cereal down from a cabinet and going for the bowls. She kept her back to the angel, who stopped on the other side of the island, beside Buffy, who was sat in one of the stools, behind Dawn, who sat in the other. Dean stood at the stove, making pancakes.

"You're a human."

"I'm a witch." They stared at each other evenly as Tara waved a hand and her cereal poured itself as she went to the fridge to get milk. Castiel crossed his arms, still obviously extremely angry.

"A foolish one." He said, the other people in the kitchen stayed silent, watching them as if they were their favorite television program. If he'd been paying closer attention, Cas would have eyed Dean for the look he and Buffy exchanged, he was pretty sure he heard them place bets.

"Why do you think that?" Tara challenged, her magic like static at her fingertips.

"Because you went into your girlfriends mind, unaccompanied, without telling anyone-"

"She told me!" Dawn interjected, they all stared at her and she quieted down. She slid out of her stool and stood up, crossing her arms in defiance, but said nothing else.

"And we don't know who's done this to her!" Cas finished, stepping forward, a hand raised, not pointing, not threatening, just emphasizing. "It's not safe."

"Nothing, and no one, is going to be safe until we find her!" Tara shouted, slamming her spoon into her bowl, which she then picked up and carried with her, turning back before she left the room, "I won't stop until I do." Then she was gone; Her added promise was little more than a whisper, and had it been possible, Castiel was sure he'd have gotten chills. He splayed his hands out against the counter top and rolled his shoulders, allowing his head to loll slightly.

"So I'll ask-" Buffy said, looking at Dean before standing from her stool, "What the hell was that?"

"She-" Cas groaned, trying to find the right words, "She was endangering herself."

"Yeah, we got that, Captain Obvious." Dean replied, "_How?_"

"She'd projected herself into Willow's dreams."

"How!?" Dean repeated, "Not even you could do that, not without her body here."

"Tara is every bit as powerful as Willow, she just knows how to control herself better." Buffy said, twisting her hands in front of her, "But maybe Willow's disappearance has made her go a bit-"

"Wacky?" Dawn offered, Buffy sighed, nodded, and held out her hand, presenting Dawn's addition to the conversation.

"So the broad's gone a bit wackadoo because her girlfriend is missing, I can understand that." Dean shrugged, throwing a pancake onto a plate and passing it Dawn's way, "Sit, eat." He raised his brows at her, threateningly; she smiled and shook her head, rolling her eyes in a '_sure dad_' fashion.

"You can?" Castiel asked, staring at Dean in confusion.

"Cas-" Dean started, and then stopped, and then started again, "You know exactly what I was like in Purgatory, you know what I did to find you." With that explanation, the tension in Castiel's shoulders seemed to ease and he stood up straighter; he nodded and stepped back, away from the island.

"But we don't even know _how_ Wil disappeared. I mean, one minute she's unconscious, her hair's turning black, and the next she's just gone." Buffy interrupted the hallmark moment in front of her in favor of something more comfortable.

"Could be she's possessed?" Dean offered, turning back to his job of breakfast foods.

"Could be." Castiel admitted, "But by who, or what? I've never seen someone possessed by a demon have their hair turn black."

"Don't know, and we won't know until we find her. Which is what Tara's trying to do." Dean sighed, passing a plate along to Buffy who cooed with delight as she searched for a fork. Finding none she shrugged and picked the pancake up with her hands, "So give her a break." The hunter said, approaching the angel. He threw a hand up onto the guy's shoulder and squeezed before rubbing it lightly. Castiel sighed and nodded, running a hand through his hair.

"Ooh pancakes!" A voice said, they all turned to see Sam walk into the kitchen and grab a hotcake; he ripped a piece off and stared at them back, "So what's up with Tara? She seemed pissed, didn't even notice me as she stormed up the stairs." He said around a bite of bisquick-y goodness. They all stared in silence.

"Sam?" Dean nearly choked out, his brother was back-but how? And for how long?


	18. Chapter 18

**A small chapter, because it's snowing and I'm inspired!**

* * *

Spike was bored, he was _always_ bored these days. Since the witch bitch turned to stone and disappeared, the demon inside his head had been itching to after Crowley; but Spike was never really one to do something simply because someone else wanted to. The demon inside him would always reply that someday he'd take over, and then the world would be in big trouble.

Spike often told it to sod off and would go about his business, drinking blood and watching his soaps. Netflix was a lovely invention, as was wifi. He'd gotten into Korean dramas, they were a bit cheeky, but he loved them all the same.

He was halfway through a large warm mug of O-negative and in the middle of an episode of Boys Over Flowers when his view was suddenly obstructed.

Willow was standing in front of him, face unamused, hair black, eyes even blacker. He turned to look at the front door, there was no sign of forced entry; when he looked back to her, she was right up on him, her hand found his throat and she lifted him from his comfortable chair. He dropped his mug and groaned, rolling his eyes.

"That was my new favorite one." He scoffed, she scoffed, and then she released him, crossing her arms again.

"You've been a lazy one." She said, smirking, "Not anymore."

"Sorry, pet, I don't know what you think you're doing, but I don't take orders-"

"You do now." She raised a hand and he was forced back into his chair, his entire body had become paralyzed from a simple flick of her wrist, it was really irksome. He rolled his eyes at himself.

"And who are you, then? Clearly you're not Willow, she's never been this bad ass."

"Willow may have been weak minded, but she's not weak in terms of power. Possessing her was easy. Maintaining it has been harder." She shrugged and strolled in a circle around Spike's chair, each click of her heel made Spike cringe from anticipation, "My name is Baal, I'm kind of the shit. But you already knew that, didn't you, Vetis?" She leaned down and looked into Spike's eyes. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the demon, _Vetis_, was cursing his luck. Willow, or rather _Baal_, smirked and drew back, it was as though she could hear his internal monologue.

"What do you want with Willow, or me?" Spike asked, staring up at her in mild disdain.

"Crowley is a lazy king, he's become complacent with the state of Hell." She walked to his kitchen area, or what would be, had he not lived in a crypt, and picked up an empty can, observing it, she tossed it to the side after a moment with disinterest.

"So you plan to usurp him? Take the throne for yourself, is that it?" Spike rolled his eyes, everyone always wanted to overthrow the person in power. He'd seen it for hundreds of years. He'd watched it on Game of Thrones.

"Of course." She stated plainly, it was, after all, obvious, "And you're going to help me."

"Me? Why?" He laughed, "Don't be daft."

"I'm a demon, I'm crazy, it's my thing." She raised her brows, crossing her arms over her chest, she stood with purpose. Vetis was pounding at the walls of Spike's mind, itching to get through. He needed to kill Crowley, it was practically written into his DNA.

"Your face is familiar." Spike said, suddenly realizing who this demon was standing before him, "You were the one possessing Dru."

"I was." She smiled, "I learned a lot of nice little tidbits about you, Spikey." She sauntered forward and placed herself on his lap, one arm around his neck, her other hand played at the collar of his shirt, "I know how much you love that slayer of yours. Drusilla knew it, Willow certainly knows it."

"And?"

"And the slayer has become bff's with Crowley's little pets. The Winchesters." She shifted on his lap, he wriggled uncomfortably, she laughed darkly.

"Yes, she is. The younger brother is dead, however, Rowena killed him." Spike jerked his face away from where her's had come too close to his own. She grabbed him by his jaw and turned him back to her, their lips were inches apart.

"All I need is Dean. He's the only one Crowley cares about." As she moved in to kiss him, the demon inside him lashed out and she was suddenly on the floor. Spike didn't know how it happened, just that an energy, something akin to adrenaline (a feeling he hadn't known since his life so long ago) had taken over and forced its way out of him. Baal laughed from her spot on the floor. Spike was standing over her, hands clinched into fists.

"Good doggy!" She exclaimed, standing up; before he knew what was happening she was slamming him up against a wall, her eyes had gone full black again, "You _will_ bring Dean to me, and you won't tell a soul."

"He won't come easy, and he's attached at the hip to an _angel_. Who, I don't know if you're aware, has the power to smite me with a finger tip."

"Oh I'm aware. You're just going to have to wait until he's alone, or send the angel away. It's not hard, all the information you need is up here." She tapped his forehead and grinned, her lids heavy, before she backed away. He fingertip that she used to touch him was crackling with red energy and his mind suddenly began racing with images and sigils. He doubled over from the pain of it, it was like he tried to bite a human while simultaneously choking another one. It was excruciating.

"When?" He shouted as the throbbing subsided enough for him to see straight, he looked up at Willow-_Baal_-from where he'd collapsed against the wall.

"As soon as possible." She half shrugged, "I'll be watching."

Spike was suddenly crouched down against the wall of his crypt alone, all but for the thoughts and voices swirling in his mind.

* * *

**After some research I chose these names because: _Baal_ is the commander of the infernal armies, and _Vetis_ is the corrupter and tempter of the holy. FUN!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Okay so I suck at updating, but for a bit there, I was so distracted by going to DCCON that I couldn't think of anything else, and I thought it would be weird to have written fanfiction right before meeting them... So... Now that it's over and I'm crying forever because Jensen called me sweetheart... Here's a chapter! Hooray! It's kinda short, but it's building up, yknow. :)**

* * *

Dean stared across the table at his younger brother, his hands were splayed out on top of the wood, he was concerned and confused, and somewhat suspicious. The small nagging need he had tugging at him in the back of his mind for clarity was beginning to become too much to deal with. All he really wanted to do was pull his brother into a hug and accept his return from death, but he couldn't, not until he understood how he'd returned.

"So... I was dead?" Sam asked finally, after they'd all calmed down from the fight they had before. When Dean had seen Sam in the kitchen, he'd wasted no time attacking. First with his silver blade, then with his holy water. He hadn't had any salt, so he grabbed the nearest shaker he could find and sprinkled it on him. Sam had taken it all in stride, dodging fatal blows and accepting the ones that would prove he was human.

He hadn't even known that he'd died. The last thing he remembered was passing out under the weight of Rowena's spell and he woke up in his bed.

"You don't recall?" Castiel asked, staring at the younger Winchester. He'd seen him in heaven, with Chuck-err, God, "I saw you there, with God."

"God?" Sam laughed, looking from his brother to the angel to Buffy and back to Cas again.

"Yes." Castiel said, not explaining any further, should Sam not be himself, he wanted to be sure that his father's identity was kept secret.

"That's, uh, interesting." Sam's mouth twitched into a small smile as he nodded to himself, evaluating the situation at hand. No one trusted him currently, for all Dean knew, he could have been pulled back soulless again, and then where would that put them? He couldn't deal with anymore messes at the moment. There were still demon's running amok inside of vampires and he had no clue how to handle that. Also, Willow was still missing, and while it wasn't entirely his job to help find her, she had still become their friend, and they didn't leave their friends in need.

"Look, guys, I know this is strange, but don't we all deal with this sort of thing a lot? People dying, coming back to life, and such?" Buffy chimed in, they all looked at her incredulously, like she should be the most on edge, "What? I'm just stating the facts. This isn't anything weird or new."

"She does have a point." Sam said, they all looked back to him, he held up his hands in surrender, "Just sayin."

"He could help us with the Willow situation, it's kind of all hands on deck, here." Buffy added, Dean shrugged and nodded.

"What Willow situation?" Sam asked, they hadn't told him yet, they'd been too worried about whether or not he was a monster they'd have to kill.

"Oh, right... Um, so Willow is sort of missing." Buffy said, "We have no clue how to find her."

"I do." Suddenly Spike was in the dining room, leaning against the wall.

"Woah! Spike! Where did you come from? Who said you could just sneak up on us?" Buffy exclaimed, but Castiel was the first one to stand at attention.

"Because Spike isn't currently in control." Said the angel, "So he didn't sneak up, he-"

"Popped in?" Dean finished, standing from the table as well, Buffy and Sam were the last ones to stand.

"Indeed I did." Spike, or whatever demon was inside of him, smirked, "Thought you might like to know that Willow paid me a visit. Or, rather, the demon that's possessing her did."

"She's possessed?" Buffy asked, a deep frown forming on her face.

"Quite right, pet." Spike smiled viciously, the twist of his mouth wasn't one she'd seen for a while, not since he'd had the chip implanted; Buffy shuddered from the look, "Nasty little bugger named Baal, of whom I'd never met. So-"

"_Baal_?" Castiel bit out, his tone had changed from slightly on edge to full alert and Dean found himself inching closer to the angel in case he might need support; Sam rolled his eyes at his brother.

"Ring any bells?" Spike asked as a low growl escaped Castiel's throat, it was a noise neither of the hunter's had ever heard him make before.

"I fought against Baal during the first war between heaven and hell. He is one of Lucifer's elite soldiers, not quite a knight, but not quite a regular demon." Castiel's hands were clenching and unclenching, his angel blade was a cold weight against his arm and it's presence was all to pressing. The mere mention of this demon had him on high alert.

"Like I said, nasty little bugger."

"So, what's the name of the demon currently in control of you?" Buffy asked, brow raised.

"You can call me whatever you like, love. Keep calling me Spike, call me Bill, Bob, Joe, Stanley-"

"Vetis." Castiel growled, seeming even more on edge.

"Who?" Dean asked, shifting closer to the angel.

"Vetis never gives his real name." Castiel sighed, "And is quite obnoxious, sort of the demon version of Gabriel, loves to play tricks."

"Fantastic." Dean groaned, hoping this demon wasn't as powerful as the archangel, he really didn't feel like dying 1,000 times again.

"Oh don't worry your pretty little head, Winchester. I heard about the time loop, hilarious; sort of morbid for an archangel, but I give him props."

"Time loop?" Both Castiel and Buffy asked.

"Later." Dean said, "What is it that you want, exactly?"

"I came to warn you, offer help, anything really. I hate Baal just as much as you do. He's obnoxious, like the overachiever at your retail job that makes everyone else look bad. He wants to bring down Crowley and, honestly, I'm just not that invested in Hell to care."

"Thanks for the offer, but we've taken down bigger fish-" Dean started, but Castiel held up a hand to cut him off.

"Baal is a master strategist, akin to Lucifer himself, we need all the help we can get, Dean."

"Alright." Dean shrugged, backing up slightly, it was obvious that his opinions didn't count on this matter. Buffy, however, stepped forward, aligning her shoulders with Cas, she crossed her arms, defiantly.

"Why should we trust you?" She asked, staring at the form of the vampire she knew so well.

"Spike's still in here, you know." Vetis smiled, pointing to his head, "I can hear all his thoughts, feel everything he's feeling, and he _does_ actually feel. It's part of why I chose him, actually. He's a vamp with heart. All the power plus the drive."

"Okay?" Buffy interrupted, "And?"

"You _are_ an impatient one, quite sassy too; what I'm sayin is, he's up here, allowing me to have the reigns, as long as I don't hurt you. The moment I even _think_ about double crossing you, he'll take back control, and I have no doubt he'll be able to."

"Oh-" Buffy began to speak, but Vetis kept going.

"You share a few kisses with a person and they're wrapped around your finger. You've got this boy whipped, and quite frankly, I'm wondering if _you're_ the one I should be possessing, because you must have magical lip powers."

"You-" Sam said, looking to Buffy and then back to Spike's body, "And Spike?" He almost started laughing before he remembered that he'd also had trysts with monsters before.

"Oh please, Like twice-"

"Three times." Vetis corrected, Buffy clenched her hands into fists.

"Okay, yeah, sure. But the first time, he thought I was the Buffybot."

"He knew you weren't."

"Whatever." Said the slayer, "That doesn't matter, none of this matters if the weird angry demon guy inside of my best friend ends up ending the world!"

"This is true." Castiel said, "We can discuss Buffy's affinity for vampires later."

"Thanks, Cas." Buffy replied, though not entirely sincere, there was a hint of sarcasm to her tone.

"So what do we do first?" Dean asked, Vetis smiled again.

"I know of three demon's in her regime who should be easy enough to capture and question. I believe you've already encountered them once."


	20. Chapter 20

**This is kind of a fun, filler chapter... It does advance the plot a bit. I'm crazy for writing it from this POV... **

* * *

As far as he was concerned, life as a demon was exponentially better than life as a human. He was super strong, super fast, super smart, he was everything super, he was basically superman. To make matters better, he didn't have to do a thing, he could lounge around in his mind all day, sipping mimosa's without a care in the world. If his body happened to get a puncture wound, it wouldn't kill him, not as long as his demon best friend was walking around in there.

The demon and him got along just fine, they were two peas in a pod, two pickles in a cucumber jar, like those siamese twins attached at the head who sang country music.

All in all, demon life as Andrew was a million quadrillion times better as regular life as _Tucker's brother_.

"Shut up." His mouth said suddenly, Jonathan and Warren turned back to look at him, their eyes black, their mouths twisted in confusion, brows furrowed with the same.

"Sorry, the human in here won't shut up about how much he loves me." Said the demon with contempt, Andrew sighed happily in his own head, it'd been so long since he was close to someone like this.

"Yeah, Warren said Andrew was a bit of a clingy weirdo; better watch out or he'll be marrying the two of you in some weird ceremony of demon matrimony." They all laughed and Andrew felt a bit hurt that Warren would say that about him to his own demon inhabitant.

"Well at least you two got actual people, I'm not sure this kid Jonathan is a normal human being. There's some strange stuff up here-"

"Awe, don't say that about Jonathan." The three demons stopped walking, and Andrew was knocked from his lounge chair when they did so. He looked down at his spilled mimosa and huffed an exasperated sigh, woe was his life that he couldn't even relax in his own mind.

"_Shut up_." The demon muttered.

"Jonathan is probably the only one of you three that I actually like... Warren is a creep who builds robot girls for vampires... And, uh, the other one... Is um..." Buffy stepped out from the shadows, her arms crossed over her chest as she frowned at the one guy she couldn't really remember.

_How can she not remember me? I was one of her greatest foe's in high school!_ Andrew complained to the demon in his head, but the demon relayed none of his anger to the now visible slayer.

"Do you really think you can beat us? One slayer does not match the power and strength of three demons." Demon Warren said, his stupid smirk made Andrew groan, though whether it was from annoyance or want, he wasn't quite sure. Damn his confused man loins.

"Ew seriously?" His demon said, suddenly, all eyes turned to him, the surprised and confused slayer shut her mouth from whatever witty comeback she was about to say, "Okay, I know we chose this kid because of his vast and extensive knowledge of all things mystical or whatever of this world, but _honestly_, his man crush on your meat suit and his whiny disposition are just killing me. I'm out, gonna go find myself a new body."

Andrew suddenly gained back control of his body as the demon smoked out of him. The first thing he did was look at his fingers as he wiggled them.

"Well that was easy." Buffy said, and the second thing Andrew could remember was her fist flying toward his face.

Once Andrew was out cold, Buffy turned her attention to the other two demons in the hall.

"So what was it you were saying about three against one? Those odds just got better." Buffy smiled sweetly at the two demons, they didn't seem put out by their lack of a third.

"Two against one, slayer, it's still looking better for us." The Jonathan demon said as he got into a fight stance, blade in hand.

"That's where you're wrong." Buffy said as she watched Sam and Dean step up behind the demons and clap some handcuffs onto them.

"Oh come on!" Jonathan whined, "That's just not fair. Not cool, slayer!"

"Who said I play fair?" Buffy asked, the two demons looked at each other and shrugged.

"These kids said they were your arch nemesis's, we figured we chose the right ones. But we were apparently wrong."

"Ya think? I've never come up against these dweebs in my life."

"Uh-" Warren said, squeezins his eyes shut, "Warren says remember Groundhog's day."

"Good movie, not my favorite of Murray's, but-" Dean interrupted, Buffy held up a hand to cut him off.

"Wait, you mean that hellish customer I had to relive?" Buffy asked, "And, the exploding lint?"

"Yes, exactly." Jonathan said, "They, apparently, thought these were good ways to get under your skin and defeat you... Then the unconscious one summoned us and we've been in control ever since."

"Interesting..." Buffy looked between the two demons and the passed out blonde guy on the floor and shrugged, "Oh well, we're gonna beat the crap out of you now to learn what you know."

The demon's groaned as their heads were cloaked by bags marked with a devil's trap.

* * *

**Don't you just love Andrew?**


	21. Chapter 21

**So I'm in a production of the music man and it takes up every second of my life that I'm not working and ohmygosh I'm so lame...**

**ALSO HEY CHUCK/GOD! LOOK AT US ALL BEING RIGHT. how could they not make him God? Eh? Okay, enjoy. **

* * *

Crowley stared at his mother's statue in contemplation. He wondered how someone so lovely could have turned into such a raging bitch. He almost wished that she hadn't turned into stone so he could ask her why she hated him. Why she wasn't a good mother, why she never loved him the way he so deserved. And boy did he deserve it, he'd told Moose as much in his human-blood-fueled monologue.

He sipped at his Scotch, from a bottle of The Macallan 18 year, the good stuff, and sighed deeply. He hated not knowing things, he hated not getting answers, and he hated that he had no clue how to turn Rowena back into her live human form; he hated the fact that he _wanted_ to do it at all even more.

The door opened and he didn't turn, he'd been expecting one of his minions any minute with the weekly soul intake.

"Get it over with." He crooned and when he didn't get a response, his blood began to boil. He was already in a bad enough mood as it was, he didn't need his lackeys disobeying his direct orders. He turned, his brow furrowed and his jaw set, ready for yelling, when he was thrust backward, his glass of scotch crashed against the ground and he crashed to the floor.

"What the-" He shouted, ready to go off at whoever _dared_ insult him in such a manner.

"Crowley." He saw Willow standing before him, but it wasn't really Willow. Her hair was black, her skin was pale, her eyes were the lovely shade of deep black that all demons possessed.

"Willow."

"Guess again." She smirked as she shook her head, her hand twitched up and soon Crowley was back on his feet, though he didn't have control over his vessel.

"Who are you?" He asked, unable to remember the name of the demon he could see just below the surface of Willow's face.

"Awe, you don't remember your old Hell mate, _Fergus_?" She clicked her tongue and shook her head again as she sauntered forward, her stride completely and utterly predatory, "Good old Baal from way back when."

"Baal." Crowley echoed, his memory working a mile a minute to recall anything that could possibly help him out of his current situation.

"Mhm." She stood before him, her fingers walked up the buttons of his suit jacket, leaving each one popped in its wake, she leaned forward, her lips next to his ear, her body pressed against his. If he hadn't been in immediate danger, he'd have found this situation completely erotic; still did, actually, "Don't go getting all hot and bothered, _your highness_." She said his title like it was poison, her tone turned dark, and she bit at his ear lobe. Crowley shivered with fear as she pushed away from him, her lips still twisted into a smirk that looked unnatural on the witch's face.

"Willow, I know you're still in there, you have to _fight it_."

"Oh, stop. You and I both know that only works when the Winchesters do it." She shook her head, disappointed with his ignorance, "I'm only here to talk, Crowl."

"Really?" He asked, brows raised, interest peaked.

"Yeah, talk, and, y'know... Tear you limb from limb." She'd made herself comfortable in his throne and tossed one leg over the side, resting her head on her hand, she stared and waited for his reaction.

"Ah, that makes more sense." He looked down at his feet, he refused to show fear. Though his vessel's heart was pounding in his ears and his head was screaming to get away, to run, to do anything.

He actually _prayed_ to Castiel for a moment, before he remembered he didn't have a soul and the angel wouldn't hear him.

"What, pray tell, did you want to discuss?" Crowley tried to make his voice as calm as possible, but there was still that underlying tremor of fear that made Baal grin wickedly.

"Regime change."

"Obviously, if you mean to kill me, you would want to usurp the throne. It's old, darling, give me something new." He tried to feign boredom.

"No, you're misunderstanding me. A regime change, to the world. Why do we hide in the shadows, we are many, angels are few. Humans, bugs ready to be squashed beneath our feet. Why haven't we taken over this son of a bitch."

"Leviathans tried that... Lucifer tried that... Hell, Azazel tried that. It never works. What works is micromanagement and the soul selling game."

"It's old, _boring_. I'm bored, Crowley. TO TEARS!" She shouted, standing, she rushed forward and Crowley thought he was about to die, but she halted right in front of him, her arms on either side of his head, her face dangerously close to his, so close he could feel her words on his cheek as he turned away from her, not wanting to face her head on, "You're old, boring, weak, _laaame_. I'm tired of it. I want something new, something fresh and exciting. I want this world to bow at my feet. I want them to recognize me as their new master, to tremble and quake with fear at the sight of me."

She leaned in to his neck and smelled him deeply; a moan emitted from her throat and it turned into a predatory laugh, "Quite like you are right now. It's radiating off of you, _King._" Never before had he heard his title be said in such a derogatory manner. It made him feel filthy and embarrassed. He felt weaker than he ever had before.

"They'll never defect to your side." He muttered, though he knew it wasn't true and by her answering laugh, so did she.

"Most of them already have, Crowls." She pushed off the wall and strolled away, over to his decanter, she poured herself a glass, turning around, she sipped slowly, tauntingly, "They like that they can possess vamps, sure... But the witches of this world are _so much more_ powerful than your mum, or any of the other witches we used to have. They don't require demonic power to fuel them. They're born with it, it's innate. They draw from the earth."

"So demons, plus witches-"

"We will _rule_." She grinned as she downed the rest of his scotch.

"What about the-"

"The _Losechesters_?" She huffed, "Sure, they'll come, with their slayer and their vampire and all those other losers. They call themselves the Scooby gang. It works for them, they are a bunch of meddling kids. Though I'm sure that Xander guy is actually forty something."

"And when they come?" Crowley asked, though he already knew her answer and he found a part of himself beginning to panic.

"I will devour every last one of them. I will possess the slayer with one of my best, of course, an anti-possession tattoo is easy to remove. I'll probably take Sam, he's hunky." She stopped her monologue to wink at Crowley before continuing, "But Dean, Castiel, Spike_, _Dawn, Xander, Anya... They'll all _die_. Their deaths will be horrible, unending."

"Dean could prove useful to you, he's been a demon before." Crowley didn't know why he found himself pleading for the Winchester's life.

"Your crush on him is pathetic." She laughed, "It'll be better for you in the long run if I just kill him now, get it over with."

"I thought you were going to kill me?" He asked, she laughed and strolled up to him again, her arms crossed, she shrugged and tilted her head, it was almost endearing. _Almost_. If it hadn't been so damn murderous.

"I will kill you, don't think for one second that you're going to survive this. It's just that first I want you to watch as I burn it all down."

* * *

**Baal/Willow is FUN to write. Holy poop. **


	22. Chapter 22

**Excited for this weekend, cause it's Awesomecon, and I will be meeting Matthew Lewis... Neville FREAKIN Longbottom. Sigh. Also, Will Friedele... So we've got the most gorgeous member of the Harry Potter cast (Emma Watson aside) and Eric Matthews, my childhood crush. IT'S GONNA BE A GOOD WEEKEND! **

**Since I'm in a good mood, and inspired, HERE'S A THING! (sorry it's short!)**

* * *

Buffy stared at the unconscious blonde boy sprawled out in the middle of her living room. They sat, waiting for him to wake up, in the hopes that he would be able to recall something about his time being possessed. He could tell them what the demons were planning, if his demon even knew anything pertinent.

"I have never seen someone stay unconscious this long," Dean said, sighing as he shifted on his feet. He'd been the only one who hadn't sat down, something about being on guard made him antsy. He couldn't stand still and Buffy was starting to get annoyed by his constant shifts in pose and posture.

Sam was tapping his fingers on his knee and that was starting to bother her too, she was also becoming more and more suspicious of why he'd been brought back from the dead. True it wasn't that long ago that she had been returned to life herself, but that was because her friends couldn't bare life without her. If this Chuck person was who he said he was, then why hadn't he shown himself to reveal that he'd returned Sam to them.

Spike was sitting in a chair, staring intently at Andrew, as though trying to will him awake. Buffy stared at him for a moment, waiting for his eyes to go black and for him to attack all of them. An extra strong vampire demon who she had unfortunate qualms about killing was not something they needed at the moment.

It was disappointing that they had to wait to question Andrew before they could try to draw information out of the demons they had trapped in the basement. She'd wanted to get to it immediately, but Castiel suggested they try asking the unpossessed human first. Something about not wanting to get too much blood on their hands right away.

Castiel was the only one she felt she could really trust, he'd been there for her since Heaven, he'd helped her more than anyone in that room.

She had Xander and Anya keeping watch of Warren and Jonathan and she knew she could trust them, though they could possibly stop paying attention and jump each others bones at any moment, as two youngsters in love are wont to do. She was about to jump off the couch to go check on them when Andrew began stirring, nay, whining, on the floor.

"Owwwwww, my head!" He cried as his hand flew up to cup his face and he turned onto his side, squeezing himself into fetal position.

"None of that, now." Spike said, being the first to stand, despite Dean being up already, Spike was faster. Superhuman, and all that.

"What do you remember?" Buffy asked, dropping onto the floor on her knees in front of him.

"Lots of sex." Andrew said, and Buffy was thankful that Tara had taken Dawn on a mini vacation for the weekend while they tried to find Willow.

"What?" Dean asked, Andrew groaned again.

"There was lots of sex in that demon den." Andrew huffed, "None of it was with _me_, of course."

"_That_ makes more sense," Dean laughed and Cas shot him a glare.

"What _else_ can you recall?" Castiel asked, "I can help you remember, if you wish."

"No, no." Andrew jumped back a bit as Castiel moved toward him, "No angel mojo, please. I saw what it can do."

"You saw an angel?" Buffy asked, glancing back at Castiel over her shoulder who looked just as confused.

"There was an all out brawl one night, lots of smiting, Jonathan, Warren, and myself, we ran. Our demons were all for staying alive." Andrew wrapped his arms around his legs and began rocking slightly, "So much death."

"What-" Castiel cut off, obviously searching for the right words, "How did the angels discover you?"

"We were-" Andrew stopped and looked at all of them, "Okay, whatever I tell you now, you have to promise to protect me. I could be public enemy number one for them. They'll put out a hit on me. Loose ends, and all that mafia mumbo jumbo."

"Demons aren't a mafia." Castiel rolled his eyes, Dean nudged him with his elbow.

"You're right, that's the angels." He said and Cas glared at him, "What, it's sort of true." He muttered and Cas shook his head.

"You can speak freely here, we're uh, we're cool." Sam said, tapping into what little knowledge he had of the Godfather. Dean rolled his eyes even more.

"Right," Andrew began, it seemed to be exactly what he wanted to hear, he nodded, licking his lips in an effort to gain anticipation, "Well, we were on a mission to get some weapon, some weapon of heaven... It's supposed to... Well it's supposed to create utter chaos in the world."

Dean and Sam looked to Castiel then, who's eyes widened immeasurably.

"That's impossible," He said, and then he disappeared.

* * *

Castiel pushed through the doors of his keep, his hidden fortress where no one knew he'd kept the weapons of heaven after receiving them from Balthazar. Balthazar, the only other angel who knew where the weapons were. The only one who could have been protecting it against a demonic robbery.

He was dead, however. Castiel killed him with his own hands. His own blade. He remembered the blood, he remembered his stomach twisting in knots as he watched one of his friends, his brother, burst into a flash of white light, he remembered the imprint of his wings on the ground.

There was no way Balthazar was alive, and as such, there was no way _anyone_ knew about the weapons.

Yet as he pushed past the iron gates, the warding that should have been there to stop him until it connected with the engraving on his ribs, was no longer there. The gates were dented, the lock broken. The weapons vault raided.

The trumpet was gone, the one he knew would bring about chaos. The one that when blown by a deity of any kind, would sound like _300_; the signal that judgment day had come. The sound that would cause brothers to turn and fight. And it was gone, and what was worse was that the enemy had it. The demons had it, _she_ had it.

He had to get back to Sam and Dean; _Dean_, who was currently in a house with a very powerful slayer, who could kill him with one hand. Dean who was standing, unguarded, against his moose of a brother. Dean who was one step away from a possessed vampire who might get hungry if blood is spilled around him.

He had to protect his best friend.

In an instant he was back at the Summer's residence, but everyone was gone. There was no one there, the room that had been occupied only moments before was suddenly empty, the table was overturned, the weapons chest unlocked and open, raided of all tools.

Castiel's vessel's heart sped up as he looked around, his eyes welling up with tears, there was no telling where they could be. They could all be dead.

"Cas?" He heard Dean's voice and turned, relieved, before something collided with his head, knocking him unconscious, the darkness overtook him.

* * *

**My poor baby angel, I sure hope he's alright! 33333**


End file.
